Sign In
Upcoming Event
Free Newsletter
Utz Brands acquires new North Carolina manufacturing facility
Listen to this articleUtz Brands has purchased a newly built pork-rind manufacturing facility in Kings Mountain, North Carolina for $38.4 million.
The 125,000-square-foot facility was sold to the Hanover-based snack foods company by Evans Food Group, doing business as Benestar Brands.
The purchase includes the existing building, which can be expanded to 200,000 square feet, land and pork-rind production equipment.
Utz said it plans to begin converting the space into a fully operational snack food manufacturing facility starting this year.
The new facility will support a growing demand for Utz’s brands in the Southeast, Northeast and Mid-South regions, which grew by 14.4%, 14.5% and 15% respectively for the 26-week period ending March 20, 2022, according to Utz.
“With continued growth and excitement for our snack food brands, we are very excited to expand our roots in North Carolina, where we will be adding over 115 new jobs over time,” said Cary Devore, chief operating officer, Utz Brands, Inc. “This is a strong step forward in optimizing our plant and logistics network, and it will allow us to in-source manufacturing across several product types that we currently outsource to some degree.”
Utz purchased the space for $10.4 million in cash and $28 million from the issuance and sale of 2.1 million shares of its class A common stock to affiliates of Benestar.
“As a vertically integrated manufacturer, we believe our operations will be optimized by supplying Utz with our Chicago-based pellet production, while selling the downstream manufacturing operations to Utz,” said Bruce Myers, president of Benestar.
