Country Pure Foods to Acquire Quaker's Ardmore Farms's Product Lines

Country Pure Foods Inc. has reached an agreement with The Quaker Oats Company to acquire Quaker's Ardmore Farms juice and juice drinks business. Ardmore Farms' product lines include frozen, single-serve fruit juices and Skigo smoothies. Under the agreement, Country Pure Foods will purchase the formulas, trademarks and inventories of the business, as well as the Deland, Florida plant

Quaker Oats' chairman, president and CEO Robert S. Morrison, said, ``While the Ardmore Farms operation has been with us since 1982 and has broadened our presence in the food service arena, it is a small non- core business. This divestiture will allow us to focus on building the consumer brands in our foods and Gatorade businesses.''

The Quaker Oats Company, headquartered in Chicago, IL, is an international marketer of foods and beverages. Its major brands include: Gatorade thirst quencher; Quaker cereals and grain-based snacks; Rice-A-Roni, Pasta Roni and Near East side dishes; and Aunt Jemima mixes and syrup.

Country Pure Foods, headquartered in Akron, OH, is one of the largest independent juice processors in the United States, supplying portion juices to the healthcare and school food service markets as well as chilled juices and juice drinks to the food service and retail markets. The company also provides contract packaging for the large nationally recognized juice brands. Country Pure Foods' own brands are Natural Country and Glacier Valley, but a significant portion of its business comes from the sale of products for private label to the food service and retail grocery markets.