Kraft Buys Juice Maker Veryfine
NORTHFIELD, Ill. - Kraft Foods, Inc., based here, yesterday bought Littleton, Mass.-based Veryfine Products, Inc., a juice maker that has been owned by the same family since 1900, according to published reports. Terms of the purchase weren't disclosed.
The food giant purchased Veryfine to boost sales of Kraft's fruit beverages. Veryfine's Fruit 2 O brand of flavored spring waters was a sales success last year, raking in more than $150 million, according to a statement released by Kraft.
The Rowse family owned Veryfine for 104 years before yesterday's sale. The purchase is part of a strategy of "tack-on" acquisitions that Kraft c.e.o. Roger Deromedi, currently hospitalized with an undiagnosed ailment, revealed to investors in January. He also said the company planned to add beverages with fewer calories and less sugar, an initiative the Veryfine acquisition supports.
The food giant purchased Veryfine to boost sales of Kraft's fruit beverages. Veryfine's Fruit 2 O brand of flavored spring waters was a sales success last year, raking in more than $150 million, according to a statement released by Kraft.
The Rowse family owned Veryfine for 104 years before yesterday's sale. The purchase is part of a strategy of "tack-on" acquisitions that Kraft c.e.o. Roger Deromedi, currently hospitalized with an undiagnosed ailment, revealed to investors in January. He also said the company planned to add beverages with fewer calories and less sugar, an initiative the Veryfine acquisition supports.