Utz Quality Foods has been making potato chips for years and expanded into other snack foods such as pretzels, and its now-famous cheese balls. The Hanover, Pa., company shares how it makes its fantastic orange, bite-size snacks.
One of the country’s reigning snack makers, Snak King recently acquired C.J. Vitner and now has a second production facility in Freeport, Ill., that it expanded and upgraded with new equipment and at least 80,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space.
Running two shifts a day, five days a week on four production lines, The Christie Cookie Co.’s 41,000-sq.-ft. production facility in Nashville, Tenn., has big-company ideas and procedures.
Nation Pizza and Foods’ massive 190,000-sq.-ft. operation in Schaumburg, Ill.—one of the company’s two frozen product facilities—features seven speedy production lines that generate at least 30,000 lb. of dough an hour alone. We tour one of the two bakeries and one of four topping lines, which all feature upgraded and soon-to-be-installed equipment.
Labriola Baking Co., an automated/artisan bakery in Alsip, Ill., seems to be expanding constantly, thanks to the efforts of ‘Chief Dough Boy’ and CEO Rich Labriola and his staff. Business has grown at double-digit rates, allowing for a move to a spacious, 175,000-sq.ft. production facility and the opening of a hot-spot bakery café. It’s latest project? Pretzel bread.