Schwan’s Co., Marshall, Minn., announced on July 24 it has acquired NE Foods Inc.'s wholly owned subsidiaries Better Baked Foods and Drayton Foods. Both supply to makers of store-bought pizzas. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
In retail stores, the company sells products under the brands Better Baked Classics, Daybreak Classics, Papa Presto, Zap-A-Snack and Odyssey. The businesses, which includes Better Baked Foods of Erie, LLC, operate production facilities in North East, Pa., Erie, Pa., and Westfield, N.Y. The acquisition represents the second in as many months for Schwan’s as it strives to boost its capabilities in the U.S. pizza market. Schwan's announced in June its purchase of MaMa Rosa’s Pizza, based in Sidney, Ohio.
“We are focused on adding to our capabilities and growing our share of the U.S. pizza market. We are extremely happy to add Better Baked Foods and Drayton Foods to our family of businesses as both are highly regarded for providing quality foods to their retail, food-service and home-delivery customers nationwide,” said Schwan’s CEO Dimitrios Smyrnios.
“The U.S. consumer’s passion for pizza continues to evolve and grow in exciting ways,” added Smyrnios. “The addition of Better Baked, Drayton and MaMa Rosa’s to Schwan’s will deepen our collaborations with strategic foodservice and retail customers on innovating and growing the pizza category and meeting consumer demand.”
Better Baked Foods, based in North East, Penn., makes pizza, French bread pizza and sandwich items for private-label customers and foodservice venues. Drayton Foods, based at its production facility in Fargo, N.D., makes pizza crusts, dough balls, bread sticks and dinner rolls for food-industry customers and offers its Two Sicily’s brand in retail stores.
