Snack World - February 2015 - (Page 20)

Chipping Away T BY BOB GATTY oday, Utz Quality Foods is the largest familyowned, privately held snack food company in the US, with a wide variety of products and distribution abroad. But it wasn't always that way. The Utz story began in a Hanover, PA, kitchen in 1921 when William and Sallie Utz began producing Hanover Home Brand Potato Chips, cooking about 50 lb an hour. They sold those fresh chips to local grocers and markets, mostly in the Baltimore. The rest, as they say, is history. "Utz is currently under the fourth generation of family leadership," said Jeff Martin, executive vice-president of sales and marketing. "We're vertically integrated, controlling every aspect of our operation ourselves, so we have the benefit of making decisions for the long-term for our customers and associates." Over the decades since those home-made chips began to find their way into nearby stores, steady growth has been the company's hallmark, beginning when the first section of the Utz plant was built in the rear of Bill and Sallie Utz's home in 1930. A new manufacturing facility was built there in 1938, the same year F.X. Rice married Bill and Sallie's daughter, Arlene, and joined the Utz business. He later became the company's president. 20 Snack World February 2015 www.sfa.org In 1947, Hanover Home Brand was incorporated as Utz Potato Chip Co., Inc., and two years later, the first modern-day plant, a 67,000-sq-ft facility, was built in Hanover to meet increasing product demand. That facility was expanded three times in the 1950s and again in 1967. The company's first acquisition took place in 1970, when Utz Quality Foods purchased Tasty Baking Co., a Hanover potato chip facility that was expanded to include pretzel production and still operates today. In 1975, an additional 50,000-sq-ft production facility was opened, and popcorn production began in 1978 - the same year that F.X. Rice retired, and Mike Rice was appointed president and CEO. In 1982, construction began on another 300,000-sq-ft facility to accommodate production of potato chips, corn tortilla chips and cheese curls. A year later, sales began in Richmond and Norfolk, VA; Philadelphia, and Delaware market areas. A mail-order department was created for product shipments around the world. Then, in 1985, sales were expanded into coastal Virginia markets. Mike Rice became chairman of the board in 1992, and in 1993 Utz expanded sales to serve national customers http://www.sfa.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Snack World - February 2015

Snack World - February 2015
Table of Contents
Letter from SFA - Chairman’s Note of Thanks
News - Gluten-free sales may double by 2019
Convenience remains king for consumers
How to reach Hispanic consumers
Supplier Insight - SNAXPO 2015 - Be 'All In'
Legislative Summit - Heading to the Hill
Government Affairs - Government Affairs Update
Business Member Profile - Chipping Away
Associate Member Profile - Long Traditions in a New Generation
SNAXPO - SNAXPO 2015: Info, Knowledge, Insight
Products & Services
Ad Index

Snack World - February 2015