Alliance Grain Traders Buys Québec Food Firm

Jan 15, 2014

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

Alliance Grain Traders Inc. (AGT), one of the world’s largest processors of pulses, said that it has agreed to acquire Québec-based CLIC International Inc., an ethnic and traditional food packer.

AGT said that the acquisition includes inventory, retail packaging and canning equipment, CLIC and retail brands, retail and food service listings and customer contracts. The CLIC management staff will also remain with AGT.

"The acquisition of CLIC bolsters our Ingredient and Packaged Foods business segment, with small packaging and canning lines to distribute a broad line of pulses and ethnic foods to the North American and global retail and food service sectors,” said Murad Al-Katib, President and Chief Executive Officer of AGT.

Al-Katib said the transaction will further AGT’s objective to transition from a commodity exporter to a food company. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.