Vending Market News

Aramark acquires Davenport, Ia., OCS firm
Aramark Refreshment Services has acquired the OCS business of Country Club Coffee based in Davenport, Ia., from owner Rick Gustas for an undisclosed sum.

Country Club Coffee provides OCS throughout the eastern Iowa and western Illinois region. The acquisition brings more than 1,000 businesses to the Aramark Refreshment Services' client base.

Country Club Coffee will continue to operate its restaurant foodservice/coffee shop and waffle businesses.

Aramark already has market centers in Cedar Rapids, Ia., and Moline, Ill., which serve the markets served by Country Club Coffee. Customers will be served from those market centers. About half of Country Club Coffee's 10 employees will join Aramark.

Whirlpool Corp. completes Maytag Corp. acquisition
Whirlpool Corp. has completed its acquisition of Maytag Corp. The combined enterprise will immediately begin the integration process. Maytag Corp. owns Dixie Narco Inc.

"The addition of the Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana and other brands, and the people who support those brands, will allow Whirlpool to more fully deploy our innovation capability across a wide assortment of high-quality products and services," said Jeff M. Fettig, Whirlpool's chairman and CEO, in a prepared statement.

Under the terms of the agreement between the two companies, former stockholders of Maytag Corp. are entitled to receive $10.50 in cash and 0.1193 of a share of Whirlpool common stock for each share of Maytag common stock held or a total of approximately $848 million in cash and approximately 9.6 million shares of Whirlpool common stock.

The aggregate transaction value, including approximately $0.9 billion of Maytag debt, is $2.6 billion.

Supreme Foods buys assets of Dennis Foods, Chesapeake, Va.
A newly formed unit of Supreme Foods, Inc., Suffolk, Va., purchased certain assets of Dennis Foods Inc., Chesapeake, Va. The new group, Supreme Vending, LLC, recently began servicing customers of Dennis Foods, a division of Tidewater Coffee Distributors, Ltd.

Dennis Foods, established in 1979, is a privately owned snack and beverage vending company serving public schools throughout Virginia and the Carolinas. It specializes in providing nutritious products to public schools and currently has more than 2,000 vending machines in public schools.

Supreme Foods has been a regional, independent, family-owned foodservice distributor since 1973 and services more than 1,000 restaurants and institutions throughout Virginia and North Carolina.

Coca-Cola and CCE ask court to dismiss bottler lawsuit
The Coca-Cola Co. and Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) recently filed separate motions to dismiss a lawsuit attempting to block CCE from testing warehouse delivery of Powerade to a customer within its exclusive territory.

The Powerade contract clearly allows a bottler to choose warehouse delivery within its exclusive territory, the filing stated.

Ferrara Pan becomes principal distributor of Kraft chocolate brands
Ferrara Pan Candy Co. has become principal U.S. distributor of Kraft Food's four chocolate brands, according to candybusinessinsider.com. Toblerone, Terry's Chocolate Orange and Milka are established in the U.S. Côte D'Or, a brand in Belgium since 1883, is a newcomer to the U.S. market.

Humpty Dumpty Snack Foods Signs Pact With Old Dutch Foods
Humpty Dumpty Snack Foods Inc., a Canada-based marketer and distributor of snack food products, has entered into an agreement with Old Dutch Foods Ltd., based in St. Paul, Minn., and HD Snax Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Old Dutch, pursuant to which HD Snax has agreed to make an all-cash offer to acquire 100 percent of the company's common shares at $2.85 per share in a transaction valued at approximately $26.7 million.

The cash consideration per share represents a premium of approximately 5 percent over the company's closing share price on March 20, 2006 of $2.71.

Old Dutch products are sold to the vending trade.

Nestlé tabs Sabbers to broker Hot Pockets in New York City area
Nestlé Hand Held Food Group has appointed Sabbers & Associates, Emerson, N.J., as its new broker for Hot Pockets for the New York City metropolitan area.