Whetstone Distribution, a platform of regional food distributors, has acquired Chicago-based meat purveyor Anmar Foods, which offers beef, turkey, chicken, pork, lamb, sausages and other smoked products and center-plate proteins to customers in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Anmar was founded in 1994 and is led by Michael Casper and Robert Martinelli. For Whetstone, the partnership adds to the company’s presence in Chicagoland, with a distributor network that includes Moesle Meats and Queen Foods, and having recently acquired Fulton Market and Pritzlaff Wholesale Meats. Whetstone is backed by Shore Capital Partners.
Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.