Latest news with #IFG
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Grillo's Pickles Building $54 Million Factory in Bartholomew County, Indiana
TAYLORSVILLE, Ind., June 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The company that invites customers to "Chill Out, Eat a Pickle" has officially confirmed its plans for a new $54 Million Food Manufacturing operation to meet its growing national demand from a site near Columbus, Indiana. GRILLO'S PICKLES® recently broke ground on a new 155,000 SF production facility along I-65 in Bartholomew County. The new Taylorsville facility in northern Bartholomew County will be adjacent to a previously announced $175 Million KING'S HAWAIIAN™ bakery operation. Both companies are a subsidiary of IRRESISTIBLE FOODS GROUP™. "When we purchased the Bartholomew County site, we did so with thoughts about building it out in phases," said Joe Leonardo, Vice President of Strategic Operations for Irresistible Foods Group (IFG) and Chief Operating Officer of King's Hawaiian. "Today's announcement for Grillo's Pickles confirms our strategy." Grillo's Pickles is investing $54 Million to construct and outfit a new 155,000 SF food manufacturing facility and will employ up to 150 persons. It is adjacent to the previously announced 300,000 SF bakery facility for King's Hawaiian. "Our pickles use a century-old family recipe and contain no artificial preservatives, Grillo's Pickles are packed, shipped, and sold refrigerated," said Adam Kaufman, President & CEO of Boston-based Grillo's Pickles. "For our new production site, it was important to us to find a central U.S. location with a skilled workforce and supportive business environment, and we are very excited to be in Bartholomew County, Indiana." Local government leaders expressed strong support for IFG's two projects. In November 2023, Bartholomew County officials pledged up to $3,746,000 from a combination of County Rainy Day Fund and County Economic Development Income Tax (CEDIT) funds to pay for off-site water, sewer, and road improvement upgrades to serve the project site and surrounding area. Last June, County officials unanimously approved the company's request for an additional 10-year property tax phase-in on the new Grillo's Pickles building and equipment, to produce savings of approximately $1.2 million. "Bartholomew County, Indiana, is committed to growing and diversifying our local economy, and we are exceptionally pleased to support and welcome Grillo's to our community as an important part of our local strategy to attract Food Manufacturing," said County Commissioner Tony London. According to Kristen Goecker, Interim President of Greater Columbus Economic Development Corporation, regional leaders have also approved inclusion of up to $1.0 Million from the State of Indiana's READI 2.0 funds awarded to the South Central Indiana Talent Region. Funds will support intersection improvements at US31 and Bear Lane, along with the extension of County Road 700N on the southern edge of the project site in support of the Taylorsville Industrial Park. "As a company, Grillo's Pickles is known for their refreshingly unique pickle products, along with their fun and very distinctive marketing efforts," said Goecker. "As such, Grillo's is going to fit in perfectly well in a community that is known for being different by design with a manufacturing workforce that is second to none." Bartholomew County Council president Leah Beyer also voiced her support of the project. "This project represents economic development teamwork at its finest," said Beyer. "County Planning & Zoning, County Council, the Board of Commissioners, City of Columbus officials, local utilities, and our READI Regional Group have all pulled in the same direction to support the investments pledged by IFG, King's Hawaiian and Grillo's Pickles." In addition to local incentives, based on the company's investment and job creation plans, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation committed an investment in Grillo's Pickles of up to $1.4 million in the form of incentive-based tax credits. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning the company is eligible to claim incentives once Hoosiers are hired. About Irresistible Foods GroupEstablished in September 2021, Irresistible Foods Group (IFG) is the parent company to King's Hawaiian, Grillo's Pickles, Killer Brownie Company and other distinctive brands. IFG is 100% family owned and is committed to authentically stewarding Irresistible brands into the future as they have with King's Hawaiian for more than 75 years. We believe in irresistibility not just in our products, but in our values, 'ohana (family) and roots. We believe the core of our irresistibility is our values. IFG strives to be the most trusted, influential, and value-creating family of authentic food & beverage brands that are beloved by their consumers for their irresistible products, uniquely connected through their shared values, and sold in the perimeter (of grocery stores). More info at About Grillo's PicklesFor people who want freshness, Grillo's is the pickle company that is changing the game. That's because Grillo's uses only clean, garden-fresh ingredients to make deliciously simple foods that deliver all the crunchy, tangy, satisfying flavor you've been searching for, with none of the junk. How do we do it? Our products are made cold, shipped cold, and consumed cold. You get an incredible crunch, and we never have to mess with artificial preservatives. In fact, the only thing traditional about us is our 100-year-old family recipe. The rest? It's fresh. Grillo's offers mouthwatering bites nationwide with their selection of spears, chips, wholes and Pickle de Gallo. For more information, visit or contact grillos@ About the Greater Columbus Economic Development CorporationThe Greater Columbus (Indiana) Economic Development Corporation is an independent, non-profit economic development organization serving Columbus, Edinburgh, and all Bartholomew County, Indiana. The organization's goal is to grow & attract well-paying, high value-added, community-minded businesses by influencing and leveraging the area's distinct capabilities in advanced manufacturing, design, and Science Technology Engineering & Math (STEM) education resources. Current industry diversification targets include Food & Beverage Manufacturing, Next Generation Mobility, Engineering Services, and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing. For more information, please visit View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Grillo's Pickles Sign in to access your portfolio
The Guardian
22-04-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Patient satisfaction with GP services in England has collapsed, research finds
Patients' satisfaction with GP services has collapsed in recent years as family doctors have switched to providing far fewer face-to-face appointments, new research has revealed. The proportion of patients seeing a GP in person has plummeted from more than four-fifths (80.7%) in 2019 to just under two-thirds (66.2%) last year. Telephone appointments have almost doubled over the same period from 13.4% to 25.4%. Those undertaken by video or online, including some in which patients fill in an online form but have no direct interaction with a GP, have risen almost eightfold from 0.6% to 4.6%. The Institute for Government (IFG) thinktank also found patients valued face-to-face appointments so highly that they regarded them as more important than their GP surgery offering more appointments overall by maximising the number provided remotely. They are more satisfied with practices that offer more in-person sessions, and less satisfied with those relying more on telephone and remote consultations, even though those free GPs up to see more patients. The dramatic shift in how family doctors interact with patients has coincided with a huge fall in public satisfaction with GP services. 'Patient satisfaction is higher in practices that deliver more of their appointments face to face,' according to an IFG report tracking the performance of England's 6,200 GP surgeries since 2019. Surgeries that offer the most remote appointments have experienced the biggest falls in satisfaction, the IFG analysis shows. Practices where in-person appointments remain common are also better at managing diseases such as asthma and diabetes, managing smoking and obesity, and providing check-ups to spot illness early, such as health screening and blood pressure checks, the thinktank found. Remote ways of providing care to patients that became commonplace as Covid-19 hit in 2020, which were widely thought at the time to be temporary, have become established ways of doing so at many GP surgeries, even though patients prefer traditional face-to-face appointments. Surveys have found that patients' satisfaction with GP services has fallen dramatically over recent years. Only 31% of people in Britain are satisfied with GP services, and just 23% with GP waiting times, the recent British Social Attitudes survey found. Silver Voices, a not-for-profit campaign group for over-60s, said GP care should not be reduced to 'intermittent telephone conversations' and that the lack of face-to-face appointments undermined Wes Streeting's repeated pledge to 'bring back the family doctor'. Dennis Reed, the group's director, said: 'Older patients are particularly affected by more remote consultations as we are more likely to be living with multiple conditions which require personal examination, rather than the need to just treat immediate symptoms. 'Many older patients are also uncomfortable about discussing intimate issues remotely, and the risks of misdiagnosis therefore increases.' Ministers should legislate to give patients a legal right to an in-person appointment, he said. GP leaders responded to the IFG's conclusions by stressing that surgeries were so overstretched that remote appointments were needed to help them keep up with the growing demand for care. Prof Kamila Hawthorne, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: 'We recognise that many patients want to see their GP face to face and the majority of GP appointments are carried out face to face – 64% in February. However, we also know that many patients appreciate the convenience of remote appointments, which can be delivered safely and securely with virtual technologies or over the phone. 'The unfortunate reality is that general practice today is totally overstretched. Patient need for GP care and services continues to outstrip resources following years of neglect and underfunding by successive governments. 'GPs and our teams are now delivering more appointments than ever before – 367m last year, more than a million per day – but with just a handful of more qualified GPs than in 2019.' Stuart Hoddinott, a senior researcher at the IFG and co-author of the Nuffield Foundation-funded report, said the relentless demand for care and shortage of GPs meant patients should not expect in-person appointments to return to pre-Covid levels. He said: 'The pandemic-era shift to providing many more appointments remotely can explain some – though not all – of the collapse in patient satisfaction. 'Although patients, especially those over 65, seem to prefer face-to-face appointments overall, the need to deliver ever more appointments to cope with demand in the system makes a return to pre-pandemic levels of face-to-face appointments unlikely.' The report, which was based on analysis of a range of official data about GP services, also found that: There are too few full-time GPs for the health secretary to fulfil his promise to 'bring back the family doctor', and that is unlikely to change in the years ahead. The government's policy of pushing GPs to offer more appointments may not be 'wise' because GPs will respond by providing more remotely – which patients dislike. GP appointment times will need to be extended from 10 to 15 minutes if Streeting is to deliver his pledge to shift the NHS from a treatment to much more of an illness prevention service. If GPs shift to being more preventive in their work, that might reduce the number of appointments they can offer, because patients will need more time to discuss their health. The Department of Health and Social Care insisted that patients who wanted an in-person consultation should get one. A spokesperson said: 'GP services are buckling after years of neglect but through our plan for change, we are working with GPs to fix the front door of the NHS and bring back the family doctor. By cutting red tape and investing more in our NHS, we have recruited more than 1,500 GPs to deliver more appointments. 'This government is also clear that patients should have access to health and care when they need it and people who prefer a face-to-face appointment should have one.'
Trade Arabia
15-04-2025
- Business
- Trade Arabia
Airbooking.com redefines corporate travel with AI
AirRetailer Travel Technology has launched a next-generation, AI-powered Corporate Travel and Expense Management platform designed to revolutionise the business travel industry. By integrating seamlessly with the IATA Financial Gateway (IFG), sets a new standard for automated corporate travel management, offering a cutting-edge solution for Travel Management Companies (TMCs), Corporate clients, and Airlines. AI-POWERED CORPORATE TRAVEL SOLUTIONS FOR THE MODERN BUSINESS combines advanced artificial intelligence (AI) with powerful travel content and automated expense management, providing an end-to-end corporate travel solution. This platform allows businesses to automate and optimise their travel and expense processes, ensuring cost savings, policy compliance, and superior traveler experiences. The AI-driven platform offers dynamic pricing, real-time travel policy enforcement, and automated reconciliation of travel expenses, providing a seamless experience for both businesses and travelers. Key AI features include: Intelligent Travel Recommendations: AI personalises the travel booking experience by suggesting the best options based on company policy, travel preferences, and past behavior. Dynamic Pricing Engine: Offers real-time adjustments to travel costs, ensuring that businesses always get the best value for their travel spend. 24/7 AI Concierge: Provides around-the-clock assistance, ensuring that travelers' needs are met at every stage of their journey. Automated Expense Management: Automatically categorises and processes travel expenses, reducing manual work and improving accuracy. IATA FINANCIAL GATEWAY (IFG) INTEGRATION integration with IATA Financial Gateway (IFG) enhances its platform by enabling streamlined payment solutions and seamless financial transactions. The partnership ensures multi-currency support, dynamic FX capabilities, a wide range of payment options including Industry Settlement Solutions, payment cost optimisation and automated payment reconciliation, creating a frictionless payment process for businesses and customised payment experience based on the merchant's requirements. Frederic Leger, SVP Commercial Products and Services at IATA, states: 'This integration enhances payment orchestration across the travel ecosystem. By combining IFG's robust global payment infrastructure with AI-powered travel platform, we enable a seamless payment experience that accelerates the industry's transition to modern airline retailing.' CONNECTING AIRLINES, TMCS, AND CORPORATES WITH COMPREHENSIVE CONTENT INTEGRATION is built to support Travel Management Companies (TMCs), Corporates, and Airlines by offering a unified solution that integrates content from multiple sources: Full NDC and GDS Integration: The platform connects to airlines via New Distribution Capability (NDC) for real-time availability and personalised offers, alongside traditional GDS for global inventory access. This creates an ecosystem where travel content from full-service carriers (FSCs), low-cost carriers (LCCs), and aggregators is accessible in one place. AI-Powered Fare Prediction and Policy Compliance: AirBooking's AI predicts future fares and ensures that travel bookings align with corporate policies, enabling businesses to monitor and manage travel spending in real time. takes expense management to the next level with AI-powered automation, offering: Intelligent Receipt Processing: AI scans and processes receipts, categorising expenses and ensuring adherence to company policies. Real-Time Spend Tracking: Travelers and managers can track expenses as they occur, ensuring that budgets are maintained and no unexpected costs arise. Automated Expense Reconciliation: The platform integrates corporate card data for automatic reconciliation, reducing administrative effort and accelerating reporting cycles. Flexible Payment Solutions: The integration with IATA Financial Gateway (IFG) supports a wide range of payment methods, including cards, digital wallets, and mobile payments, with PCI DSS Level 1 security and support for 3DS and SCA compliance. offers flexible implementation options to cater to different business structures and needs: Direct Corporate Booking Platform: For businesses managing their travel and expenses in-house. TMC Multi-Client Management: Tailored for travel agencies managing bookings for multiple corporate clients. Corporate Direct Access: Provides corporations with direct access to the platform for greater control over bookings and expenses. Customisable White-Label Solutions: Brands can implement technology under their own label, offering personalised travel solutions. Aligned with the Modern Airline Retailing vision, enables businesses to embrace the future of travel by offering dynamic and personalised bundles. The platform supports the full transition to Offers and Orders, ensuring that airlines, TMCs, and corporates can work together seamlessly, with a unified view of the traveler's journey. ' is at the forefront of transforming the corporate travel experience,' says Kavitha Jagannathan, Chief Product Officer at AirRetailer. 'Our platform is built from the ground up with modern retailing principles, seamlessly blending artificial intelligence, dynamic pricing, and real-time policy enforcement. By automating everything from booking to expense reconciliation, we empower companies to reduce travel spend by up to 15%, streamline operational workflows, and ensure 100% compliance with corporate travel policies. It's not just about savings—it's about giving travel managers and employees a smarter, faster, and more personalised experience.' -TradeArabia News Service
Zawya
07-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Airbooking.com revolutionizes corporate travel and expense management with AI-driven platform and IATA Financial Gateway integration
Dubai, UAE: AirRetailer Travel Technology LLC today launched a next-generation, AI-powered Corporate Travel and Expense Management platform designed to revolutionize the business travel industry. By integrating seamlessly with the IATA Financial Gateway (IFG), sets a new standard for automated corporate travel management, offering a cutting-edge solution for Travel Management Companies (TMCs), Corporate clients, and Airlines. AI-Powered Corporate Travel Solutions for the Modern Business combines advanced artificial intelligence (AI) with powerful travel content and automated expense management, providing an end-to-end corporate travel solution. This platform allows businesses to automate and optimize their travel and expense processes, ensuring cost savings, policy compliance, and superior traveler experiences. The AI-driven platform offers dynamic pricing, real-time travel policy enforcement, and automated reconciliation of travel expenses, providing a seamless experience for both businesses and travelers. Key AI features include: Intelligent Travel Recommendations: AI personalizes the travel booking experience by suggesting the best options based on company policy, travel preferences, and past behavior. Dynamic Pricing Engine: Offers real-time adjustments to travel costs, ensuring that businesses always get the best value for their travel spend. 24/7 AI Concierge: Provides around-the-clock assistance, ensuring that travelers' needs are met at every stage of their journey. Automated Expense Management: Automatically categorizes and processes travel expenses, reducing manual work and improving accuracy. IATA Financial Gateway (IFG) Integration integration with IATA Financial Gateway (IFG) enhances its platform by enabling streamlined payment solutions and seamless financial transactions. The partnership ensures multi-currency support, dynamic FX capabilities, a wide range of payment options including Industry Settlement Solutions, payment cost optimization and automated payment reconciliation, creating a frictionless payment process for businesses and customized payment experience based on the merchant's requirements. Frederic Leger, SVP Commercial Products and Services at IATA, states: 'This integration enhances payment orchestration across the travel ecosystem. By combining IFG's robust global payment infrastructure with AI-powered travel platform, we enable a seamless payment experience that accelerates the industry's transition to modern airline retailing.' Connecting Airlines, TMCs, and Corporates with Comprehensive Content Integration is built to support Travel Management Companies (TMCs), Corporates, and Airlines by offering a unified solution that integrates content from multiple sources: Full NDC and GDS Integration: The platform connects to airlines via New Distribution Capability (NDC) for real-time availability and personalized offers, alongside traditional GDS for global inventory access. This creates an ecosystem where travel content from full-service carriers (FSCs), low-cost carriers (LCCs), and aggregators is accessible in one place. AI-Powered Fare Prediction and Policy Compliance: AirBooking's AI predicts future fares and ensures that travel bookings align with corporate policies, enabling businesses to monitor and manage travel spending in real time. Advanced Expense Management and Seamless Payment Solutions takes expense management to the next level with AI-powered automation, offering: Intelligent Receipt Processing: AI scans and processes receipts, categorizing expenses and ensuring adherence to company policies. Real-Time Spend Tracking: Travelers and managers can track expenses as they occur, ensuring that budgets are maintained and no unexpected costs arise. Automated Expense Reconciliation: The platform integrates corporate card data for automatic reconciliation, reducing administrative effort and accelerating reporting cycles. Flexible Payment Solutions: The integration with IATA Financial Gateway (IFG) supports a wide range of payment methods, including cards, digital wallets, and mobile payments, with PCI DSS Level 1 security and support for 3DS and SCA compliance. Tailored Solutions for Every Business Need offers flexible implementation options to cater to different business structures and needs: Direct Corporate Booking Platform: For businesses managing their travel and expenses in-house. TMC Multi-Client Management: Tailored for travel agencies managing bookings for multiple corporate clients. Corporate Direct Access: Provides corporations with direct access to the platform for greater control over bookings and expenses. Customizable White-Label Solutions: Brands can implement technology under their own label, offering personalized travel solutions. Leading the Charge in Modern Airline Retailing Aligned with the Modern Airline Retailing vision, enables businesses to embrace the future of travel by offering dynamic and personalized bundles. The platform supports the full transition to Offers and Orders, ensuring that airlines, TMCs, and corporates can work together seamlessly, with a unified view of the traveler's journey. ' is at the forefront of transforming the corporate travel experience,' says Kavitha Jagannathan, Chief Product Officer at AirRetailer. 'Our platform is built from the ground up with modern retailing principles, seamlessly blending artificial intelligence, dynamic pricing, and real-time policy enforcement. By automating everything from booking to expense reconciliation, we empower companies to reduce travel spend by up to 15%, streamline operational workflows, and ensure 100% compliance with corporate travel policies. It's not just about savings—it's about giving travel managers and employees a smarter, faster, and more personalized experience.' Trust in Innovation and Security commitment to excellence is reinforced through its extensive certifications, including IATA ARMI 21.3, IFG Community Partnership, GDPR compliance, and PCI DSS Level 1 certification. These standards ensure the platform meets the highest levels of security, operational efficiency, and data protection. About developed by AirRetailer Travel Technology LLC based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is an advanced corporate travel and expense management platform designed to serve Corporates, TMCs, and Airlines globally. By combining AI technology with the IATA Financial Gateway (IFG), it sets new standards in business travel, offering a comprehensive, seamless, and efficient solution that caters to the diverse needs of the modern corporate traveler. For more information about and its integrated solutions, visit or contact media@
Khaleej Times
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
From Abu Dhabi to Dubai: Didi Krishna's message of growth and purpose inspires change
Following the highly successful Indiaspora Forum for Good (IFG) held in Abu Dhabi from February 23-25, where Indian diaspora leaders gathered to address humanity's most pressing challenges, one of the forum's most inspiring speakers has continued to captivate audiences across the UAE. Didi Krishna, head of the Sadhu Vaswani Mission, delivered a powerful speech at IFG's closing plenary session last week on the central theme of 'goodness'. Present at the session were distinguished guests from across media and industry including Ajay Piramal, Kailash Satyarthi, Kris Gopalakrishnan, M.R. Rangaswami, and actor Vivek Oberoi, among others. Didi Krishna shared complementary wisdom on achieving goodness through self-awareness, gratitude, forgiveness, love, and soul nourishment. Audience members expressed profound appreciation for Didi Krishna's practical approach to personal development. As the event concluded, several industry leaders were seen engaging with Didi Krishna, discussing how her principles could be applied within organisational contexts to foster more positive, productive environments. Following IFG, Didi Krishna has come to Dubai to share her words of wisdom with this community as well. Didi Krishna most recently delivered a thought-provoking talk at the Dubai India Club on February 28th. The talk expanded on Didi Krishna's philosophy of personal empowerment and responsibility, offering practical guidance on how individuals can take control of their destinies rather than feeling at the mercy of circumstances. "It is better to design your own destiny than to know what is going to happen to you, or to feel as if you do not have any control over your fate," Didi Krishna emphasised to an audience of over 700 people. At the core of her presentation were six actionable strategies for personal transformation and growth. She advised attendees to be mindful of their thoughts, explaining how positive thinking attracts wellness while negative thoughts lead to illness and rob us of our natural state of happiness. "With every thought we think, we are building the edifice of our lives," she noted, illustrating this concept with a compelling story about a tortoise and two circles that demonstrated how destiny is "not a matter of chance but of choice." The talk continued with guidance on living in the present moment rather than dwelling on past regrets or future anxieties, connecting with inner sources of strength, letting go of emotional burdens through forgiveness, developing compassion by becoming "givers, helpers, and healers of humanity," and maintaining faith in life's journey.
