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ConAgra Foods Plans To Separate Into Two Public Companies ▶ ConAgra Foods, Inc. announced plans to pursue the separation of the com- pany into two independent public companies: one com- prising its consumer portfolio and the other comprising its foodservice portfolio of frozen potato products. The consumer brands business will be renamed Conagra Brands, Inc. and the frozen potato business will operate under the Lamb Weston name. Immediately following the transaction, which is expected to be com- pleted in the fall of 2016, ConAgra Foods sharehold- ers will own shares of both independent companies. The transaction is expected to be structured as a spin-off of the Lamb Weston business, tax-free to the company and its shareholderer. Conagra Brands will con- sist of brands such as Marie Callender's, Hunt's, RO*TEL, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim, PAM, Chef Boyardee, Orville Redenbacher's, P.F. Chang's and Healthy Choice. Six Convicted On Business Opportunity Fraud Charges ▶ A jury in Central Islip, NY, convicted six men on felony charges of conspiracy and fraud in the sale of candy vending machine business opportunities, the Depart- ment of Justice announced. According to evidence presented at trial, manag- ers, sales representatives and operators of "locating companies" associated with Multivend LLC, d/b/a Vendstar, made material misrepresentations about the profts customers would make from bulk candy vend ing machines. During the telemarketing calls, Vend- star's sales representatives falsely claimed to operate their own proftable vending machine businesses. ACE 2015 Oktoberfest Operator Attendance Up Five Years In A Row ▶ Participants from 20 states and Canada took part in this year's three-day Atlantic Coast Exposition (ACE) that was held in Myrtle Beach, SC. ACE reported that operator attendance has grown for fve consecu- tive years and booth sales grew 10 percent over last year. Awards were presented to NCVA Vendor of the Year Allen Hester of Canteen Vending; NCVA Supplier of the Year Rob Shumake of G&J; Sales and Marketing; VAMA Vendor of the Year Karen Harlow of Canteen Vending; and VAMA Supplier of the Year Lou Pace of Qual- ity Brokerage. A plaque was presented to Scott Denhard of Canteen Vending to honor his year-long commitment and valued leadership as the 2015 ACE Planning Com- mittee Chair. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Zed Bradley of Piedmont Vending Services. People in the News Jeff Yoder Promoted To Vice President/GM Of AVS American Vending Sales (AVS) has an- nounced that they have promoted Jeff Yoder to the position of vice president/general manager. He joined the company in 2006 as general manager and has overseen all aspects of operations. Yoder has also had a leading role in the gaming division at AVS by heading up the gam- ing compliance initiatives and acting as liaison to the Illinois Gaming Board. Glenn Butler Named New GM Of Nayax Industry veteran Glenn Butler has joined Nayax as the general manager of Nayax North America to accelerate its growth across the U.S. and Canada. Butler started his career just out of college by co-founding Streamware in 1991. He later spent time as president of Cantaloupe Systems, VP and CTO of Crane Merchandising Systems, and co-founder of VendScreen. His consulting company CTO Services has done several integration projects for clients within the vending industry. Accent Foods Hires Canteen Division President John Christian Accent Foods, a vending, micro market and offce coffee service company in Austin, TX, has hired John Christian for the position of chief marketing offcer. Christian was formerly the central division president of Canteen. Christian graduated from the University of Wiscon- sin with Bachelor of Science degrees in Economics and Business. He has been involved in the vending industry for more than 25 years. 365 Retail Markets Welcomes New Director Of Sales 365 Retail Markets is pleased to announce the recent appointment of John Veit as its new director of sales. As the director of sales, Veit is responsible for continuing the expansion of the company's vending, micro market and foodservice technologies across the globe. He is also responsible for developing new markets and optimizing routes to market; to pro- vide the best customer solutions and experience in the marketplace. Yoder Butler Christian Veit December 2015 VendingMarketWatch.com Automatic Merchandiser 7 T O P N E W S