Dave's Hot Chicken Accelerates International Expansion with Exclusive European Agreement

Dave's Hot Chicken, the fastest-growing Nashville-style hot chicken sensation from Los Angeles, has finalized a landmark agreement with UK-based Azzurri Group, granting the hospitality powerhouse exclusive development rights across Europe. Under the new agreement, Azzurri Group will develop 180 Dave's Hot Chicken restaurants across 10 European countries, leveraging a joint venture partnership model to team up with experienced local operators in each market. These countries are France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Italy, and Turkey...

Hendrix Genetics Invests in New Poultry Pedigree Facility in the Netherlands

Dutch-based Hendrix Genetics is investing in a pedigree facility in the Netherlands as part of a new poultry breeding program, the company said. Hendrix Genetics specializes in the breeding of turkeys, poultry, swine, salmon, trout and shrimp.

“The facility will support the growth of Hendrix Genetics’ Layers and Traditional Poultry Breeding Program,” the company said.

Hendrix Genetics expects to start operations this month and reach full capacity within six to eight months.

The facility has a modern hatchery as well as rearing and production houses...

Diageo Agrees to Sale of Italian Facility to NewPrinces

Formerly known as Newlat Food, an Italian food and drink company now called NewPrinces bought 100% of the share capital for Diageo Operations Italy, according to a Diageo press release which specified the inclusion of the Santa Vittoria production facility.

The site produces a range of alcoholic beverages, ready-to-drink products, and low and no alcohol products, according to a Diageo spokesperson. 

The NewPrinces Group is already a leading player in the soft drinks market in the UK, with revenues of approximately €350 million in this category alone...

Foreign-Owned Agricultural Land in the US Increases

From 2022 to 2023, there was a 1.58-million-acre increase in foreign-held agricultural land, according to Farm Bureau. In the US, 45.85 million acres of agricultural land were held by foreign investors in 2023, representing 3.61% of total privately held agricultural land, according to the USDA’s Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) report which shows an upward trend of land ownership by foreign entities across the nation. 

Since 2010, reports of foreign-held agricultural land have increased. This expansion is 21 million acres, or an area larger than South Carolina...

FrieslandCampina to Restructure Dutch Operations, Cut 186 Jobs 

Leading European dairy producer FrieslandCampina plans to optimize production activities at its site in Leeuwarden, in the north of the Netherlands, it announced on Tuesday.  

The company intends to concentrate activities at the southern part of the site and “eventually” close the northern part to avoid further investment in its upgrading, it said.  

“Shifts in demand have made it necessary to optimize our operations,” the firm told Expana. 

FrieslandCampina aims to stop production of sweetened condensed milk by 1 June 2026, which it will outsource to Hochwald in...