Tasty deal: Utz manufacturing facility in Berlin, Somerset County, sold

BERLIN, PA. — Utz Brands Inc. has announced plans to sell its borough plant to Our Home, an operating company of Better-for-You (BFY) brands that includes Real Food From the Ground Up, Popchips and Food Should Taste Good.

The transaction preserves manufacturing jobs and benefits for Utz employees, according to Kevin J. Brick, vice president of regulatory and community affairs, legal department, Utz Quality Foods LLC, a subsidiary of Utz Brands Inc., in an email Thursday morning.

"There will be minimal impact on the employee base as Our Home will be retaining Utz employees," he responded to a question raised by the Daily American.

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"Current associates who work at the affected facilities will become Our Home employees," Brick said.

"In addition, Our Home is keeping pay rates and PTO allotments the same, honoring job tenure and offering similar benefits," he said.

This decision to sell the Berlin and another manufacturing plant follows a separate transaction in February 2024, in which Our Home purchased three manufacturing facilities and two brands from Utz, Brick said.

"This transaction will allow us to focus on the next phase of our optimization efforts as we invest in our remaining facilities and continue to deliver on our value-creation initiatives," he wrote in an email.

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Utz now operates eight primary manufacturing facilities nationally, down from 16 in 2021. This plan allows the food manufacturer to allocate more volume to its larger manufacturing facilities and better leverage fixed costs, Brick said.

"For Utz, this is consistent with our long-term strategy. Our remaining manufacturing and warehouse locations will benefit from the increased volume and will require higher levels of investment to continue capability building," he said.

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For Our Home, producing potato chips, puffed snacks and popcorn across their Better-For-You brand's manufacturing capability greatly bolsters their growth plans, Brick said.

"Along with the Good Health and R. W. Garcia brands, they will gain greater focus and a broader range in their portfolio," he said. "Our Home is a great fit for the acquired facilities and will co-manufacture some Utz brands products for up to 12 months."

The local brands will be continued in the local community," Brick said.

History of Berlin plant

The Snyder family started the business in 1920 cooking kettle chips in their Hanover home, according to Snyder’s website. In the 1940s the family opened the factory in Berlin to meet growing demand. The factory has more than 300 workers making chips and other snacks, according to the company’s website.

Utz began in 1921, also as a family-owned business.

In October 2019, Utz bought Snyder and several other snack-makers located around the country from Conagra Brands, based in Chicago. It was part of a series of ownership changes. The prior year Conagra bought Pinnacle Foods, of Parsippany, New Jersey, in a $10.9 billion deal that included the Berlin snack maker.