Utz Brands Inc. has bought what it describes as “a brand new, recently completed snack food manufacturing facility” in Kings Mountain, N.C., for $38.4 million.
The plant, specializing in fried pork rinds, was sold by Evans Food Group doing business as Benestar Brands. Benestar will continue to supply Utz with the raw material needed to make pork rinds. The sale was part of Benestar’s strategic decision to become a pure-play snacks ingredients supplier.
Utz plans to convert the space into a fully operating facility this year. It stands at 125,000 sq. ft. and has the capacity to expand to 200,000. The plant already has modern pork-rind production facilities, and Utz plans to bring production of its other brands there in the near future.
“Operationalizing the recently constructed Kings Mountain Facility is quicker and more cost-effective than building from the ground up or renovating an existing facility,” Utz said in a statement. The ROI on the deal is expected to take no longer than 18 months “due to the expected strong supply chain cost savings,” the statement says.
