Snacks & Candy

Utz Quality Foods Acquires Kitchen Cooked

Acquisition will help buyer expand distribution
Kitchen Cooked
Photograph courtesy of Utz Quality Foods

HANOVER, Pa. — Utz Quality Foods has acquired Kitchen Cooked Inc.'s snack food brand, direct-store delivery operations and manufacturing operations.

Farmington, Ill.-based Kitchen Cooked is a manufacturer and distributor of snack foods serving central Illinois and eastern Iowa. Its products include potato chips, popcorn and pretzels.

"Since the 1930s, Kitchen Cooked brings a strong consumer following and unique craft heritage in its core markets,” said Dylan Lissette, CEO of Utz. “Their distribution and manufacturing capabilities, along with their customer relationships, enhance our ability to grow our Utz brand portfolio farther west."

Paul Blackhurst, vice president of Kitchen Cooked, said the partnership will create a stronger manufacturing and distribution network throughout Illinois and eastern Iowa. The companies have almost a century each of experience in bringing “great tasting snacks to our communities,” he said.

Earlier in 2019, Utz acquired the direct-store-delivery snacks business from Conagra Brands Inc., Chicago. 

Utz, Hanover, Pa., is the largest family-managed, privately held, salty snack company in the U.S., according to the company. Its products include potato chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, pork skins and onion rings, and its brands include Utz, Golden Flake, Zapp’s, Dirty Potato Chips, Snikiddy and more.

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