Tyson Foods Acquires Bosco’s Assets

Tyson Foods Inc. has acquired the assets of Bosco’s Pizza Co., of Warren, Mich. Bosco’s, well known for “The Original Bosco Stick,” manufactures a variety of stuffed bread sticks and frozen pizzas for foodservice and retail throughout the Midwest and at some retailers nationally. Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed.

“This is part of our company’s strategic plan to grow our domestic prepared foods business,” said Donnie King, president of prepared foods, customer and consumer solutions at Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson. “Bosco’s will be a good addition to our diversified portfolio of quality food offerings.”

Craig Mulhinch, VP of Bosco’s sales and marketing, and Paul Morgan, VP of the company’s operations, will continue to manage its day-to-day operations. The company employs about 150 people, all of whom are expected to be retained by Tyson. The company will become part of Tyson Foods’ prepared foods division, but continue to operate under the Bosco’s Pizza Co. name, and customer contacts won’t change.

‘Great Opportunity’

“This is a great opportunity for the Bosco’s brand,” noted Mulhinch. “We’ve put a lot of effort into creating high-quality products and Tyson Foods has recognized that. This deal will allow us to accelerate our growth while we continue to focus on the fundamentals of making excellent artisan bread products.”

Remaining with the business as an advisor is Mark Artinian, who founded Bosco’s as a carry-out pizzeria in 1988 before branching into such products as frozen stuffed-crust pizza and stuffed bread sticks, the latter of which became the company’s main product line.

Tyson, the largest supplier of pepperoni and pizza toppings to the foodservice industry, markets prepared foods to retail grocers, foodservice distributors, restaurant operators and on-site food service establishments such as schools, universities, corporate cafeterias, hotel chains, health care facilities and the military.