Displaying items tagged: foodagri

Michigan greenhouses and nurseries say they are pleased and ready to open following an executive order today by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer loosening restrictions on some businesses as COVID-19 cases level off.

As the new coronavirus spreads throughout the Midwest and people’s behaviors change as a result, Michigan’s turkey farms are struggling to stay afloat. 

Michigan’s craft beverage industry is facing a challenge with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic that is unlike any other in its history. 

Craft beverage companies have been rocked by an unprecedented crisis, one caused not by bad business decisions or fundamental industry shifts, but by widespread closures related to a sweeping public health concern. 

Two prominent players in Michigan’s cannabis and craft brewing industries have launched a new product merging their areas of expertise: beer-flavored edibles.

Launching a new craft beverage business can prove challenging in even the best of economic times, let alone in the middle of a global pandemic.

BELLAIRE — Short’s Brewing Co. has received a roughly $1 million loan through the U.S. Small Business Administration to help offset the impacts of the coronavirus, company officials told MiBiz today.

Like most non-essential businesses in the state, many garden centers and greenhouses in West Michigan have been forced to close as part of continuing efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. 

Restaurants and bars will be able to sell spirits back to the state under an executive order signed Monday evening by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. 

The state has tightened environmental restrictions on Michigan’s largest livestock farms. 

LANSING — The Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association and the state Department of Agriculture and Rural Development have announced a partnership that will enable restaurants to sell food and pantry items that currently can be sold only by grocery and retail stores.

When Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the first two cases of COVID-19 in Michigan and declared a state of emergency on March 11, Lisa Wideman knew Meals on Wheels Western Michigan would be forced to adapt to a new reality. 

Michigan’s food and agriculture industries and related workers are considered as “essential critical infrastructure” to ensure continued food security across the state under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-home executive order. 

HOLLAND —  Coppercraft Distillery is joining a number of distilleries in the state with plans to produce hand sanitizer. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Garage Bar & Grill plans to give away 100 free carry-out meals to workers affected by recent layoffs. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Long Road Distillers LLC has laid off 50 employees — almost its entire workforce — following a state order limiting bars and restaurants to take-out and delivery business.

West Michigan brewery owners are reeling this morning over news that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will issue an order later today to temporarily close bars, restaurants and other venues over concerns related to coronavirus. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Restaurants and breweries across West Michigan are taking precautions to protect employees and patrons from coronavirus. 

Following a request from Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the U.S. Government Accountability Office will investigate the integrity of the U.S. Department of Agriculture aid to farmers affected by the U.S. trade war with China. 

A bill introduced in the state Legislature would change how beer festivals operate in Michigan.

New laws aim to bring parity to the state’s alcoholic beverage sector. 

Gary Schuler never expected to jump into the industrial hemp industry, but he  finds himself now pitching the plant’s potential and its milled-down byproduct for new uses.

Indiana agricultural land manager Ceres Farms LLC is suing Amtrak over blocked access to farmland in Niles, Mich. 

SHELBY — Family-owned fruit processor Peterson Farms Inc. is expanding its operations in Oceana County, north of Muskegon. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Atwater Brewery, a Detroit-based brewery with a satellite taproom in Grand Rapids, has been acquired by Chicago-based Molson Coors Beverage Co., one of the largest international brewing conglomerates. 

West Michigan’s farmers will be wading through the confluence of negatives brought on last year ranging from extreme weather, volatile commodity prices and trade wars well into 2020. 

LANSING — Neogen Corp. announced its second international acquisition in a week with a deal for Italy-based Diessechem S.R.L., a distributor of food and feed safety diagnostic products. 

While craft beverage industry insiders expect more deals ahead nationally in 2020, the market in Michigan may be poised to level off. 

GRAND RAPIDS — An established West Michigan brewery whose products are available on shelves statewide is taking a novel approach to getting its newest brand out to market. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Comstock Park-based Speciation Artisan Ales LLC plans to open a new taproom along the burgeoning Wealthy Street corridor in Grand Rapids.