Overheard

-- Restaurants and Institutions, 7/1/2008

X Café LLC, a Princeton, Mass.-based manufacturer of coffee extracts, received the 2008 Award for Innovation in Business from the Smaller Business Association of New England.
Purchase, N.Y.-based Pernod USA’s ultra-premium cognacs Martell Grand Creation Extra and Martell XO received top honors from the 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and also the 2008 Beverage Testing Institute’s annual cognac tasting earlier this year.
Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, Inc., recognized the recipients of its annual William B. Darden Distinguished Supplier Awards at the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant & Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago. Honored were King & Prince Seafood, Kontos Foods, Inc., Libbey Inc., Lotito Foods, Inc., Monin Gourmet Flavorings, Inc., Nestle Professional, Pilgrim’s Pride, Ragozzino Foods, Inc., Trinchero Family Estates, and Tuna Temple, Inc.
Don Lewis was named president of SCA Tissue North America, a Philadelphia-based manufacturer of restaurant napkins and away-from-home tissue and towel products under the Tork brand.
Dawn Food Products, Inc., based in Jackson, Mich., announced that 18 of the company’s facilities achieved superior ratings during the period from Jan. 1 through April 30, 2008, during their annual inspections conducted by the American Institute of Baking.
Frozen-bakery-products supplier Lantmännen Unibake acquired St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Euro-Bake and established its first production facility in the United States.