Sara Lee one step closer to national footprint
"We haven't made a secret of the fact that we'd like to have a national footprint," Matt Hall, spokesperson for Sara Lee Food & Beverage, said. "We don't have a time table set for that, but if we're able to close this deal and bring Butter-Krust into the family, there will be a lot of opportunities for continued expansion in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast."
Butter-Krust Baking was established in 1920 and operates plants in Sunbury and Northumberland, Pa., and owns 12 distribution depots and about 180 direct-store-delivery routes. The company expects 2005 sales to total $80 million. Sara Lee agreed to acquire the company for about $72 million. Butter-Krust mainly produces white bread under the Holsum, Butter-Krust Country, Roman Meal and Milano brands. The company's territory includes:
"With the acquisition of Butter-Krust Baking, Sara Lee will expand its Mid-Atlantic distribution coverage, complementing our recent entry into the Ohio Valley, to better serve our customers and to reach more than
20 million additional consumers," Brenda Barnes, Sara Lee Corp.'s chairman and chief executive officer, said. "We will leverage the strong relationships that Butter-Krust has developed throughout the region to further expand the Sara Lee fresh bakery brand, which in just three years has become the largest and fastest growing brand in the U.S. fresh bakery aisle."
Sara Lee will retain Butter-Krust's management team to operate the two bakeries. Over time, Sara Lee said it will add Sara Lee branded products to production. To accommodate this extra capacity, Hall said the company will add a bun line to the Sunbury plant.
"It's going to be business as usual for the Butter-Krust operations," Hall said. "We'll be able to take the best of Sara Lee and marry it with the strength of Butter-Krust."
This acquisition is the latest effort by Sara Lee to reach every consumer in the United States. During the past two years, the company has entered major markets in Florida, Idaho, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia using existing production capacity.
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