By Alex Gary - September 8th 2024

 

BELOIT

 Schreiber Foods, a Green Bay-based maker of cheese products and yogurt, is looking to expand its beverage market by buying the Tru Aseptics business in Beloit from Lyons Magnus.

The deal closed on Aug. 21. Schreiber didn’t disclose what it paid for Tru Aseptics, but public real estate records showed that Schreiber paid $20.4 million for the offices, manufacturing operations and warehouse at 1750 Branigan Road, 2951 Kennedy Drive, and 2924 Wyetta Drive.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for us. We wanted to expand our beverage capabilities,” said Andrew Tobisch, Schreiber’s director of communications.

Tru Aseptics was founded in 2016 in Beloit to make aseptic products for the retail, food service and food ingredient markets. Aseptic manufacturing preserves fresh, quality ingredients into shelf-stable products by eliminating microorganisms that cause spoilage.

California-based Lyons Magnus acquired Tru Aseptics in 2019, pouring investment into its blending and processing operations and focusing the Beloit operations on making active lifestyle beverages, plant-based beverages, cold-brew coffees and nutritional supplements.

Schreiber was founded in Green Bay in 1945 as a cheese producer. It has since grown into a $7 billion global operation. Schreiber is the country’s second-largest producer of cream cheese and one of the largest yogurt producers. Anyone who has eaten a cheeseburger from a fast-food chain is likely to have tasted a Schreiber product. Schreiber produces cheese slices used on cheeseburgers by 17 of the top 20 hamburger chains.

For the 180 employees in the Beloit operations, it’s more than a change of names. In 1999, Schreiber created an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, turning over ownership of the company to its employees. Schreiber is the largest ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) in the dairy industry and was ranked No. 82 on the 2023 Forbes list of largest private companies in the United States. The company now has about 10,000 employees or partners.

In comparison, Beloit-based ABC Supply was No. 21 on the Forbes list of privately owned companies with $18.5 billion in annual revenue.

 

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