Grocery News In Brief…
Utz Quality Foods plans to purchase Golden Enterprises, maker of Golden Flake brand snack foods. Dylan Lissette, CEO of Utz, said Golden Flake’s product line, market coverage and manufacturing facilities blend well with Utz’s desire to “expand and grow our markets in the South.” Golden Flake’s product lines and production capabilities will complement the Utz product portfolio, which includes Utz, Zapps, Dirty Bachman, Wachusett, Snikiddy and Good Health. Mark McCutcheon, Golden Enterprises’ CEO, said, “This merger will allow the Golden Flake brand to continue to grow in our core southeastern markets, while expanding the product selections for our consumers. Utz is a very community-oriented company and we look forward to the future that Utz and Golden Flake will create together.”…
Allen Harim, an eastern U.S. chicken producer and processor, has an exclusive partnership with C&S Wholesale Grocers to distribute its signature Nature’s Sensation brand of No Antibiotics Ever, 100 percent vegetarian-fed chicken to independent grocers nationwide. Allen Harim is one of the first companies in the nation to announce a product line raised with no antibiotics ever in addition to moving to a 100 percent vegetarian feed. A new logo and packaging reflecting these changes recently were unveiled in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. “We are very excited about this partnership with Allen,” said Jason Lindsey, national poultry buyer for C&S. “They are a great partner in this and give us the ability to provide a ‘never ever’ program to all of our customers in this growing category.” Allen Harim has grown the Nature’s Sensation product line by more than 80 percent in the last year, and Jack Coleman, senior director of sales and marketing at Allen Harim, expects similar growth this year with the addition of new product offerings and private label partnerships.
