Jonathan Mougel, Meilleur Ouvrier de France, becomes technical director at École Bellouet from January 2026. The Paris pastry school, owned by Puratos, expands beyond traditional training to offer consultancy services for industrial bakers and hospitality businesses navigating market changes.

Italian ingredient specialist Millbio acquires US manufacturer Cain Foods through private equity firm Apheon, creating a vertically integrated clean-label bakery solutions platform spanning Europe, Asia and the Americas with combined fermentation, manufacturing and R&D capabilities.

Finsbury Food Group acquires 70% stake in Lola's Cupcakes for £25m, marking entry into direct-to-consumer market. Strategic move combines manufacturing expertise with digital capabilities in premium celebration cake sector.

NFDT launches Level 3 Lead Baker Diploma in England to upskill bakery supervisors. New NFDT Academy supports wider technical and leadership training.

Cargill implements comprehensive decarbonisation across its global cocoa supply chain, installing solar power in Ghana, biomass boilers using cocoa shells in Côte d'Ivoire, electric barges in Netherlands, and renewable energy systems. The sustainability transformation spans West African origin countries to European processing facilities, targeting 30% emissions reduction by 2030 through circular waste management and clean energy adoption.

Valeo Foods Group completes acquisition of Melegatti 1894 assets, adding two Italian production facilities specialising in panettone, pandoro and croissants to expand European sweet bakery manufacturing capacity and international distribution network.

Bühler has opened a dedicated Puffing Application Centre at its Uzwil, Switzerland facility, targeting food manufacturers developing puffed grain and pulse products at industrial scale.

Cardiff Metropolitan University food science students partnered with EDME to develop innovative clean label bakery products using malt flour technology. The winning pizza dough project demonstrates how academic-industry collaboration drives real-world food innovation from lab to market.