Listed on the Singapore Exchange, Asia Pacific Breweries Limited (APB) is one of the key players in the beer industry. A joint venture between the Fraser and Neave Group of companies and Heineken International, APB was established as Malayan Breweries Limited (MBL) in 1931. It went on to open its first brewery in Singapore and launched the award-winning Tiger Beer a year later. To more accurately reflect the growing regionalisation of its business interests, MBL was renamed Asia Pacific Breweries Limited in 1990. Today, APB oversees a portfolio of over 40 beer brands and brand variants, including Tiger Beer, Heineken, Anchor and ABC Stout. The group operates an extensive global marketing network, which spreads across some 60 countries and is currently supported by breweries in countries including Singapore, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Let's hear a shout for Royal Schouten Group's efforts in animal nutrition and biofuel. The group operates through several companies. Schouten Ceralco supplies soy, corn, palm oil, grains, and other products to the food, feed, and bio-energy markets. Its ColzaOil unit distributes rapeseed oil and other bio fuels by ship and truck for consumers across Europe. Schouten Products develops and produces vegetable-based ingredients, including toasted soya, tapioca, and corngluten meal, that are used to produce animal feed.

Brown-Forman is a diversified producer of fine quality consumer products. It was founded in 1870 by George Garvin Brown in Louisville, KY, U.S. His original brand, Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky, was America's first bottled bourbon and remains one of Brown-Forman's finest brands today. Geo. Garvin Brown IV, a descendant of the founder, is part of the 5th generation of Brown Family members engaged with the company and serves as the Presiding Chairman of the Board. Brown-Forman employs 4,120 people worldwide with about 1,000 located in Louisville. Brown-Forman, one of the largest American-owned spirits and wine companies and among the top 10 largest global spirits companies, sells its brands in more than 135 countries and has offices in cities across the globe. In all, Brown-Forman has more than 25 brands in its portfolio of wines and spirits.

Olam International is likely "the man behind the curtain" when it comes to many foods. A global leader in the supply-chain management of agricultural products and food ingredients, its stable of products includes confectionery and beverage ingredients (cocoa and coffee), food staples and packaged foods (rice, sugar, coffee, cocoa, and other packaged foods), fiber and wood products (cotton and wood items), and edible nuts, spices, and beans. The Singapore company, which has operations in more than 60 countries, sources raw materials from some 200,000 suppliers, and then processes, distributes, and markets 17 agricultural products. Olam supplies its food products to more than 6,500 customers globally.

Evergreen FS is an agricultural cooperative serving the needs of northern Illinois farmers. The co-op provides a full range of farm supplies and services including agronomy, feed, seed, fertilizer, fuel, financing, and marketing advice and products. The group also operates a handful of grain elevators as part of its operations. It specializes in the production of corn, soybeans, and wheat. The co-op boasts some 13,000 member/owners that operate businesses on farmland in the counties of McLean, Woodford, and Livingston. Evergreen FS is a member of the GROWMARK system.

A family hobby has turned into a flourishing family business. Jerry and Flora Komes started Flora Springs Wine Company as a single vineyard to keep them busy during retirement. The company, now run by their children John Komes and Julie Garvey and their families) operates a dozen Napa Valley vineyards and a winery. It distributes its red and white wine varietals under the Flora Springs label through its tasting room, via its Web site, and by mail order to states that allow such shipments. Flora Springs also offers tastings for corporate and group events.

Farmland Foods hopes to put all sorts of meaty morsels on dining tables far and wide. With customers in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Australasia, company sells a variety of meat products under the Farmland label, including bacon, ham, pork, hot dogs, deli and lunch meats, sausage, and beef. The company also sells its offerings carrying other brand names, including Roegelein (deli meats), and Ohse (hot dogs, sandwich meats, bacon). Its foodservice division specializes in delivering a variety of meat offerings to the US foodservice industry. Farmland is a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods.

This company's chickens have roads in three states to cross. (Why is the perennial eight-year-old's question, not answered here.) Mountaire Farms operates poultry hatcheries and processing plants in Delaware, Maryland, and North Carolina. The vertically integrated company produces fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken products for wholesale, foodservice, and private-label food customers. It sells its chicken products throughout the US and overseas. The company owns feed mills for its own use in North Carolina, Maryland, and Delaware, and operates full-service grain elevators in Maryland and Delaware, which handle corn, soybeans, wheat, and barley from local farmers.

South Dakota Wheat Growers (SDWG) began as a state wheat pool in 1923. We have since grown into one of the most successful cooperatives in the United States. We’ve made sure this growth has not come at the expense of service or by discarding the core values established by our ‘founding farmers.’ South Dakota Wheat Growers (SDWG) is a grain and agronomy cooperative in the heart of the James River Valley of South and North Dakota. Owned by the customers it serves, Wheat Growers exists to provide value for customer owners from Interstate 90 to Interstate 94 and the Missouri River to Interstate 29.

Leading Brands, Inc. is an independent manufacturer, bottler, and distributor of soft drinks and what it calls "new age" beverages, including Infinite Health bottled water, as well as Stoked and DIE HARD energy and TrueBlue blueberry juice drinks. It also bottles several beverages under license, including Icelandic Glacial Water and Stewart's classic sodas. In addition, Leading Brands offers private-label bottling and co-packaging, product-development, logistics, and marketing services for customers throughout the US and Canada. Board member R. Thomas Gaglardi owns about 10% of the company through his Northland Properties company.

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