Quaker Maid Meats, the country's largest retail supplier of frozen sandwich steaks, announced May 22 that it has the Steak-umm brand name and associated intellectual property from the Steak-umm Co. Inc., its chief competitor. Reading, Pa.-based Quaker Maid will continue to manufacture its current line of sandwich steaks as well as the Steak-umm brand, further increasing its market share.
Under the agreement, Quaker Maid will become the sole manufacturer and supplier of Steak-umm brand sandwich steaks under a new sister company, Steak-umm Co. LLC, after a transition period that is expected to end in late August. Both companies will manufacture and ship all four Steak-umm sandwich steak SKUs during the transition period, ensuring no disruption in supermarket supplies.
The current Steak-umm Co. will change its name and continue to manufacture its eXpress microwaveable sandwich fillings and Red-L hors d'oeuvres without the Steak-umm brand from its plant in Pomfret, Conn. The new company name has not been determined.
"We have made a strategic decision to focus on our prepared foods product lines, and this transaction will allow us to execute that plan," said Greg Murray, President and CEO of Steak-umm Co. "At the same time, it will ensure that supermarkets and consumers will still have access to Steak-umms sandwich steaks and all of the brand equity that we have built up over the years."
Quaker Maid will manufacture Steak-umm-branded sandwich steaks from its meat processing facilities in Reading, Pa. The company opened a third plant in September 2005 and has sufficient space to absorb the Steak-umm production into its current operations with the addition of new equipment and employees.
"We began as a maker of sandwich steaks over 45 years ago, and that is still our core business even though we have branched out into other frozen food products," said Sergei Szortyka, President of Quaker Maid Meats. "This agreement adds another strong brand to our portfolio and advances our commitment to the sandwich steak market."
Quaker Maid did not purchase Steak-umm's equipment, facilities or receivables. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. For more information, visit www.quakermaidmeats.com.
