Pennant Foods to acquire frozen bread dough business

Pennant Foods, a provider of specialty bakery products to the foodservice and retail industry, has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase a portion of the General Mills Bakeries and Food Service frozen bread dough business. Pennant is a member of the Fresh Start Bakeries Family of Companies, which operates more than 25 bakeries in nine countries on four continents.

The sale includes four manufacturing facilities in Bakersfield CA; Hazleton PA; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; and Vinita OK, and will significantly increase Pennant Foods’ production capacity for some of its core focus product lines.

"Our objective is to build on and broaden the products and services we provide to our customers in the global bakery products market," said Craig Olson, president and chief executive officer of Fresh Start Bakeries.

Pennant Foods manufactures and distributes frozen bread dough, cookies, croissants, puff pastry, cinnamon rolls, muffins, Danish, and bakery ingredients under the Pennant, La Francaise, and Sweet Bites brands.

Fresh Start Bakeries is a global supplier of hamburger and hotdog buns, English muffins, hearth-baked breads, bagels, and cookies. The company operates manufacturing facilities throughout the United States, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Spain, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, and Australia.