Milling & Baking News - August 13, 2019 - 11

Business

Hostess relocating headquarters,
opening consumer research center
KANSAS CITY - Hostess Brands, Inc.
is relocating its corporate headquarters in metropolitan Kansas City. Plans
for the relocation and a new consumer
research center were announced Aug.
7 along with the company's secondquarter financial results.
In a conference call with investment
analysts Aug. 7, Andrew P. Callahan,
president and chief executive officer,
said the move from Missouri to Kansas will result in tax savings for the
company.
"We expect to continue to reinvest
a significant portion of the savings
achieved with the distribution center
and headquarters move back into the
business to further enhance our foundation and enable additional consumerdriven profitable growth," he said.
Thomas A. Peterson, executive vicepresident, chief financial officer and
treasurer, said Hostess will receive
tax incentives and credits "based on
our ability to partner with the state of
Kansas and local governments on the
relocation." He said the tax incentives
will begin one year after the move.
Hostess said the consumer research
center will feature a laboratory, a
sensory test kitchen and focus group
space. The center will be located within the new headquarters building. The
company did not specify where in
Kansas the building will be located.

The company said the research and
development center will "enhance the
company's in-house innovation capabilities and expand capacity for new

HOSTESS BRANDS

product research and development."
The center is expected to open in the
first half of 2020.
During the conference call, Mr. Callahan elaborated on the value of bringing the research and development center into the Hostess headquarters.
"Historically we have had our R.&D.
team in a separate building with one of
our partners," he said. "It's been cumbersome to kind of collaborate, coordinate. Sometimes, it's not as hard. We
don't have 100% access to the equipment and facilities we need, and, therefore, we do a lot more in our actual
full, scaled-up facilities. And therefore,
the ability to be able to do benchtop

Manischewitz, largest baker of
matzah, to be acquired by Kayco
NEW YORK - Kosher foods distributor Kayco is planning to acquire the
Manischewitz company, according to
Jerusalem-based Jewish newspaper
Hamodia.
The Manischewitz Co. is one of
the largest kosher foods companies
in the United States and the largest
matzah (unleavened bread) maker in
the world. Its portfolio features several kosher brands, including Carmel,
Elite, Mother's, Rokeach, Mrs. Adler's
and Tradition.
Further details about the transaction will be disclosed once the sale is
complete, Hamodia said. Hamodia also
said the deal, which is expected to
close soon, excludes Manischewitz's
Season brand of sardines, canned fish
and vegetables.
The Manischewitz Co. has undergone
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

a series of ownership changes since it
was founded in 1888. The Manischewitz family took the
company public in 1923.
In 1990, it was taken
private by Kohlberg &
Company. Richard A.
Bernstein bought the
company in 1998, and
in 2004 its name was
changed to the R.A.B.
Food Group, L.L.C. It
was sold to Harbinger Capital in 2007 and
HEWITZ
MANISC
later acquired by Sankaty
Advisors (part of private investment
firm Bain Capital) in 2014. Throughout these ownership changes, the
legacy company has remained a
household name among Jewish consumers. Today, it operates out of

samples or to run sales samples and
all of those things are more expensive;
they take more time. So the ability to
co-locate makes us ... much faster,
makes us much (more) nimble. It enables us to look at a breadth of ideas a
lot faster, so our R.&D. team can really
do faster prototyping and testing and
other things related to our products."
The headquarters move is one of
a series the company has made this
year. In April, Hostess announced it
was opening a new corporate office
in Chicago to serve as the company's
hub for marketing and category management. A month later the company
said it was moving its principal distribution to Kansas from Illinois.
Hostess' current headquarters were
first located more than 50 years ago at
the corner of Armour Boulevard and
Main Street just south of downtown
Kansas City. The move away from this
location would be the company's second time over the last decade that the
company moved from Armour and
Main. In 2009, when Interstate Bakeries emerged from bankruptcy, the
company changed its name to Hostess
Brands and moved its headquarters
to Irving, Texas, in the Dallas area. A
large part of the management team
remained at the Kansas City location
during this period. With a bankruptcy
and liquidation in 2013, the buyers of
the Hostess snack cake business, led
by Dean Metropoulos, also acquired
the Kansas City offices and reestablished headquarters there. MBN
Bayonne, N.J., and is known as
Manischewitz.
Kayco was created through the
merger of Kedem Foods, Kenover
Marketing and B&W Foods. The
company owns several kosher food
brands, including Kedem, Sabra and Fox's
U-Bet, and distributes
over 70 others. It is
owned by the Herzog
family, which also owns
Kedem Wine Corp.
The demand for kosher products is growing,
as vegetarian and healthconscious consumers increasingly adopt kosher
foods. Last year, 33% of kosher products were also gluten-free, 25% were
non-G.M.O., and 22% carried a "without additives or preservatives" claim,
according to Innova Market Insights.
The global kosher food market is projected to reach $60 billion by 2025. MBN
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August 13, 2019 / 11

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Milling & Baking News - August 13, 2019

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