New BPA free can lining announced

ADM adds BPA alternative to product line

August 16th, 2010

Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) today announced that it has begun offering isosorbide under its line of Evolution Chemicals. Isosorbide is an industrial ingredient made from corn that is a potential alternative to the petroleum-based chemical Bisphenol A in plastics and other applications. ADM is the first company in North America to offer renewable isosorbide on a commercial scale.
Bisphenol A, or BPA, is used in the manufacture of plastics and is present in many products including eyeglass lenses, sports equipment and CDs and DVDs. Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Toxicology Program at the National Institutes of Health have expressed concern about the potential health effects associated with BPA.

“Today more than ever, people are seeking both consumer and industrial products that are safe and renewable,” said Robert Broomham, business director, ADM Industrial Chemicals. “Isosorbide offers manufacturers a renewable alternative to the traditional chemicals found in many products.”

Isosorbide is a versatile ingredient with wide range of applications. It can be used in polyesters for inks, toners, powder coatings, packaging and durable goods; polyurethanes for foams and coatings; polycarbonates for durable goods and optical media; epoxy resins for paints; and detergents, surfactants and additives for personal care and consumer products.

“With increased interest in environmental improvement, we see growing opportunity to expand our portfolio of renewable industrial products,” said Broomham. “ADM’s research and development expertise and our access to agricultural feedstocks enable us to develop innovative ingredients that can serve as replacements for traditional chemicals.”

So after reading this press release, I asked one of my manufacturers about this and received this response from their can manufacturer:


"...This chemical is in its infancy. It is on the front end of the testing/commercialization time-line. We are studying it. However, it has never been put in a can lining. It hasn’t been tested on shelf-life or flavor issues. This is one of many chemicals of its kind that have hit the market. They all need to go through the testing process."

Progress often comes in slow steps...

Travel

On the road again...
Last week, I visited the Lakeside plant in Owatonna, MN (you can look it up on the map and they even have a Starbucks!!!).

That plant is where they run our Natural Value Organic Beans.

I managed to get a picture outside in front of the truck...

More cats

From Jeff:

Two weeks after I last emailed you a year and a half ago our 8 year old female cat started to cough up a storm at 3AM, and by 10AM she had passed away. So what did I do in my grieving period? I ADOPTED THREE Siamese kittens. A brother and sister and a month later (the little cat from HELL).


I feed them EVO and Natural Value.

Jeff...

NV Pumpkin

A consumer wrote in..."Have you discontinued your canned pumpkin? I can't find it anywhere, online or in stores that used to sell it."

So I wrote back...">> We have been selling the Dickinson pumpkin for years and years, and last year, the crop was basically a total failure and we didn't get any product to sell...we hope to have some this year...thanks"

So she wrote back and sent pictures..."I hope so! On my veterinarian's advice, I feed it to my cat, and she only likes your product or homemade. So last night I cooked up a butternut squash for her..."

Here are pictures of (aptly named) Black Cat

New Products

Many times, we added new items that were requested by our retailer customers..."you are selling me this, can you get me that." So we would look for that, so we could sell it with this.

In addition, there were many products in the marketplace that I saw and wanted to produce under our own label. One of those categories was brown paper....specifically, brown paper towels and brown napkins.

It was hard to find them. It isn't the number one product that paper marketers are looking to produce.

Several years ago, one of the largest private label paper manufacturers said he could produce brown towels for me, so I invited him to our home office for a chat, and to see if we could do some business. He told me our volume wasn't big enough to do business with them on brown products, but if we could give him all of our business, he would see what he could do.

I told him that we didn't operate that way. I told him that our existing supplier took us on when we were very small, worked with us, built up our business, and I wouldn't and couldn't just take all of the business away from him after all these years. We just didn't do business that way, and if it meant they wouldn't do business with me, that was fine.

Then several months ago, another paper supplier said they could do brown paper towels, so i hopped on a plane to go see them. Yep, they were doing brown paper towels all right and would be happy to pack them for me, but wanted to know if I could sell 2500 cases a month! Nope, I said. I would love to sell 2500 cases a month but i just don't see that happening at the beginning of our relationship. So once again, I was too small.

It's interesting - I always tell these potential suppliers - anybody can buy a truckload of anything...the question is, can you SELL a truckload of it...

Finally, a few months ago, our existing paper supplier managed to source brown paper towels...made from recycled cardboard. Eureka, he cried!

We will have them shortly...nearby is a prototype in unlabeled poly wrap.

At about the same time, a different supplier said they could sell us brown kraft dinner napkins. But they don't have retail packaging, and the packaging is in a plastic film bag that is knotted and taped - not heat sealed. That isn't going to work, I told them...the package needs to be intact...so we are still looking for that.


We started off 15 years ago with 25 products and we have grown over the years to several hundred products.

Anyway, sometimes it takes us years to source and produce the products we want to do...which is especially true in this case.

Closing in on 2 Million Lifetime United Miles

Slowly but surely racking up those miles...

Lifetime flight miles since joining on Jun. 09, 1989:

1,803,898 Lifetime flight miles.

Travel

Sorry I haven't kept up on the blogging for awhile...

I have started traveling again - Tabletop shows, Business Travel, Meeting new brokers.

and I sometimes wonder what happens when I am gone....at least I know what happens to my outside chair.