Bosch Packaging Technology announces a strategic collaboration with Osgood Industries to expand its presence in the American dairy and food markets. Bosch has contracted Osgood to serve as a sales representative for its line of aseptic processing equipment for food applications. Osgood will represent Bosch in the dairy industry, an area where it has special expertise and experience, with the potential to expand into other segments of the food market.

Grote Company has announced its recent acquisition of United Kingdom-based Advanced Food Technology Ltd. With more than 25 years of industry experience, Advanced Food Technology is a recognized leader in the innovation, design and manufacture of industrial sandwich-line automation equipment for the food-processing industry. In addition, AFT manufactures specialty cutting and depositing equipment for other food segments, such as vegetables, confections and bread products. AFT will operate as a business division of the Grote Company under the name AFT Ltd. It will continue to manufacture equipment and operate from its current facility in Thame, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.

Trucktruth.com launched Sept. 25 as an online resource for lift truck manufacturers, buyers, operators and dealers. Trucktruth.com integrates the latest lift truck news, tips, and in-depth comparison data to help visitors make informed purchasing decisions and learn about lift truck safety, operation and maintenance. Featuring articles, white papers and extensive data, trucktruth.com is a single-source reference. Visitors to the site get the facts on serviceability, dependability, cost of operation, productivity and ergonomics. Trucktruth.com’s multimedia section features short training videos, useful information on various lift truck features, safety tips and test footage. Lift truck users, as well as other manufacturers, can register for trucktruth.com updates and submit comments and their own articles, data and multimedia.

A presentation detailing the advantages of X-ray technology is offered by Mettler-Toledo Safeline. The presentation, titled “X-ray Inspection – The Future of Packaging Inspection,” is available for download at http://www.mt.com/XrayTechnology. The presentation explains the technology and its specific application to these industries, as well as demonstrates that X-ray provides capabilities not available in metal detectors or vision systems.

PURAC has announced it has increased the sales prices for the product categories lactic acid, lactates, gluconic acid and gluconates. The price increase has been applied worldwide and varies from five to 10 percent, depending upon product category. The new prices became effective October 8, 2007, or as sales contracts allow. In recent years, production costs have increased substantially due to higher costs for carbohydrates, energy, auxiliary chemicals and packaging, resulting in the necessity to increase the sales prices of the company’s products. PURAC will continue to work on innovative and cost-effective solutions.

Double D Food Engineering, one of the UK’s leading designers and manufacturers of custom-built ovens and cookers, which operates in the U.S., has been acquired by the Bonspiel Group, a specialist engineering group based in Dundee, Scotland. Through its U.S. agent, Risco USA, Double D has in recent years installed a range of ovens, cookers and char-grilling units for a number of prestigious U.S. customers in the meat and poultry industry, and continues to expand its customer base here. Double D’s new managing director is Bob Petrie. Massachusetts-based Risco will continue to act as Double D’s U.S. agent.

Bry-Air, Inc. of Sunbury, Ohio, has produced and shipped five temperature and humidity control units for the Cold Storage Rooms at the Library of Congress Book Storage Facility, Modules 3 and 4, located at Ft. Meade, Md.

MATRIX MicroScience Inc., of Golden, Colo. has announced that ConAgra Foods Inc., one the world’s leading food companies has adopted the Pathatrix® technology as an integral part of its comprehensive food-safety program. After an extensive evaluation conducted by ConAgra’s expert food-safety team, based in Omaha, Neb., the Pathatrix® system has been deployed at several key sites within ConAgra.

TCP Reliable, a thermal packaging solutions manufacturer and DDL, a leading package testing services firm have announced a merger, making the combined company a leading packaging engineering group specializing in the medical device and biopharmaceutical industries. DDL and TCP will continue to operate their testing and manufacturing separately with DDL as a wholly owned subsidiary of TCP Reliable.

Bettcher Industries has announced a major expansion of its company-run operations in Brazil.

The Brazilian headquarters office has relocated to facilities that are nearly twice the size of its original space, including expanded inventory and warehousing facilities. The new office is part of the Austin commercial complex in the São Paulo metro area, conveniently located near airport and the city’s other transportation hubs.

According to Edson Bittencourt, managing director for the Brazil office, Bettcher Industries’ expansion is the result of significant growth in business activities and sales that have occurred since the company established factory-direct operations in Brazil in 2003. “Local equipment, parts and service are readily available, so we’re able to respond to the needs of our customers faster than ever before,” he said. Bittencourt noted that each specialist carries a supply of parts and is capable of performing on-site yield and labor savings analysis for immediate customer benefit.

The new office is equipped with the latest wireless technology, enabling it to communicate easily with Bettcher’s satellite offices across Brazil, plus other company locations elsewhere in the world. The company serves customers directly from company-run locations, including the important meat producing and processing regions of São Paulo, Goiás, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. Among the support it offers customers throughout the region is a 24-hour parts delivery guarantee.