Pillsbury to Acquire Heinz's Bakery Business

The Pillsbury Company's Bakeries & Foodservice unit (Minneapolis, MN) has announced plans to acquire the bakery products division of Heinz for $178 million.

Heinz's bakery business will add two product platforms to Pillsbury's frozen and dry bakery lines: frozen unbaked bagels and frozen unbaked bread dough. Heinz's customer channels are similar to those of PBFS, which supply the in-store/retail, wholesale, and foodservice channels.

"The Heinz unit has product lines very similar to our existing business, to which we can apply our technical skills in marketing and selling value-added bakery products," Paul Walsh, CEO, The Pillsbury Company, said.

H. J. Heinz Company is a leading food processor and purveyor of nutritional services. Its 50 affiliates operate in some 200 countries and offer more than 5,000 varieties.

Pillsbury produces a range of grocery items, frozen foods, and refrigerated dough products for international consumer markets, including North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Far East.