Technical Sanitation Specialist

24 days to Golden Bean Denver. Golden Bean NA is a little less than a month away from running the largest coffee roasting competition in the world in Denver, and it is very exciting to see so many new businesses entering and getting involved. Golden Bean NA still have places available for coffee roasters to attend, take advantage of the full networking opportunities, and learn from each other around the judges' tables. There is no other coffee roasting competition where you can taste hundreds of different coffees from origins all around the world. One of its biggest categories is the Milk Categories, and Golden Bean NA has been very fortunate to partner with one of the USA's largest milk producers, HP Hood. This Boston-based business has been around for over 180 years. HP Hood makes many products, from dairy milk, ice cream and creamers to plant-based milks, dips and spreads, with products available in most major retail supermarket chains. Golden Bean NA chose HP Hood because of the consistency of its dairy, both in taste and texturing ability. Golden Bean NA needed a good milk that would not compete with the flavours of the coffee, and after testing milks from all over the US, HP Hood's milk stood out. Golden Bean NA also have a very good relationship with Planet Oat, another successful HP Hood product, and this is its chosen plant milk for the Alternative Milk Category. Planet Oat Barista steams and blends with coffee perfectly, and Golden Bean NA encourage its competitors to design their plant- based coffee entries to complement this oat milk. Remember, it's time to get your entries in! Log onto the Entry Portal by going to Goldenbean.com. Golden Bean NA also need to know whether you are attending, as Golden Bean NA is booking venues for the social nights and awards. Golden Bean NA also need lots of fresh palates to judge hundreds of entries. Golden Bean NA still have a few rooms available at the Art Hotel, where Golden Bean NA is holding the competition, and most of the evening functions are close to the hotel. Contact the hotel directly and mention Golden Bean as the code to receive the discounted room rate. The event officially starts on Tuesday evening, 29 September, with its opening drinks and presentation, and finishes on Saturday evening, 2 October, with the Awards Night. The Golden Bean team is excited to see you all and have a fun competition that supports its industry - and, most importantly, you, the coffee roaster. Sean Edwards - Head Bean

The closures of four dairy plants lead to worry in Vermont. Dairy Farmers of America's decision to shutter a St. Albans plant is just the latest setback for the state's $5.4 billion sector. A series of unexpected closures of milk-processing plants in recent months has shaken farmers and Vermont leaders. They worry that the sudden loss of local production capacity could damage the state's vital but fragile dairy industry, a $5.4 billion sector. "While we've had a steady decline in the number of dairy farms, we've not seen such a precipitous decline in processors like this for a long while," said state Rep. John O'Brien (D-Tunbridge), a member of the Vermont Milk Commission, which recommends ways to support the dairy industry. The HP Hood plant in Barre, which bottled milk under the Booth Bros. label, closed in April; 70 workers lost their jobs. In May, Dublin-based Perrigo announced plans to lay off 161 workers as it moves to close the Georgia plant where it makes infant formula by the end of 2027. In early June, the German owner of Franklin Foods said it would shutter the cream cheese plant in Enosburg Falls where 100 people worked. A new owner plans to open a smaller operation there. Finally, a week after that announcement, Kansas-based Dairy Farmers of America said it would lay off 81 people and "idle" the St. Albans Creamery, which it acquired in a 2019 merger with the local co-op that had operated in Vermont for more than 100 years. The creamery, known as a balancing plant, turned local milk into a variety of dairy products, including cream that was sold to the Ben & Jerry's ice cream plant across town. The co-op has agreed not to dismantle the plant while it arbitrates a claim by the Teamsters union that the closure was retaliation for a strike last year.