USA: Utz Quality Foods announces Kitchen Cooked acquisition

Utz Quality Foods (Utz), the US snack firm, has announced it has acquired Illinois-based crisp maker Kitchen Cooked for an undisclosed sum.

Headquartered in Farmington, IL, Kitchen Cooked is described as a leading manufacturer and distributor of snack foods serving central Illinois and eastern Iowa. Starting in the 1930s by manufacturing crisps, Kitchen Cooked has more recently expanded its product line to include extruded snacks, popcorn, pretzels, tortilla chips and pork scratchings.

The acquisition includes the Kitchen Cooked snack food brand, direct store delivery (DSD) operations and its manufacturing operations, and “aligns long-standing fan-favorite snack food brands”, Utz said in a statement.

Commenting on the deal, Utz CEO Dylan Lissette said: “We are very excited about the opportunity to add this important snack food brand and set of capabilities to our portfolio. Since the 1930’s, Kitchen Cooked brings a strong consumer following and unique craft heritage in its core markets. Their distribution and manufacturing capabilities, along with their customer relationships, enhance our ability to grow our Utz brand portfolio further west”.

In the past few years, Utz has also acquired Conagra Brands’ DSD snacks business, Boulder Canyon owner Inventure Foods, and snack firm Golden Enterprises.

Source: Utz Quality Foods