Hormel HealthLabs Inc.

Tuesday, December 05, 2000

Hormel HealthLabs Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hormel Foods Corp., has acquired the business and plant of privately held Cliffdale Farms in Pennsylvania.

The company is a leading supplier of texture-modified foods sold primarily to hospitals and long-term health-care facilities.

Terms of the cash transaction were not disclosed.

Hormel HealthLabs assumed production, marketing and sales functions of the Cliffdale Farms business effective Monday. The Cliffdale Farms plant located in Quakertown, Pa., northeast of Philadelphia, will continue to operate with the workforce retained.

Cliffdale Farms, founded in 1985 by Clarice, Julio and Pepe Limantour, manufactures a wide variety of food products having a soufflelike texture. Included are breakfast entrees, breads, deli products, dinner entrees and desserts suitable for restricted sodium, restricted cholesterol and diabetic diets.

The products are offered to patients in health-care facilities whose conditions require pureed, mechanically soft and dysphagia foods.

"With this acquisition, Hormel HealthLabs becomes a leading supplier of food products for the dysphagia marketplace," said V. Allan Krejci, vice president of public relations for Hormel Foods Corp. in Austin.

Dysphagia is a medical condition involving difficulty in chewing and swallowing. It is often associated with stroke, cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and many other illnesses.

"Hormel HealthLabs now can function as a single-source supplier of all texture-modified menu items acute-care and long-term care facilities need for nutritious and flavorful breakfasts, lunches and dinners," Krejci added. "The Cliffdale Farms line adds a variety of great-tasting and unique products to those already offered by Hormel HealthLabs and the acquisition is consistent without goal to bridge the gap between function and flavor."

Krejci noted the Cliffdale Farms brand will benefit from the strong marketing and full national distribution capabilities offered by Hormel HealthLabs. Currently, about 60 percent of Cliffdale Farms sales are to health-care institutions in the northeast United States. Annual sales of the firm are $3.4 million.

According to Krejci, the unique texture of food products from Cliffdale Farms allows each variety to be cut with a knife and eaten with a fork or served as finger-foods.

The products are packaging individual portions, half-pans or in a Redi-Melts (TM) system. The Redi-Melts system enables Cliffdale Farms products to be prepared in molds that reduce waste while enabling consistent portion control and improved eye appeal, according to Krejci.

"Combing our business with Hormel HealthLabs is the right move to ensure broader availability of our products," said Clarice Limantour, chairman of the board of Cliffdale Farms.