Pierre Foods, Advance Food Company and Advance Brands have officially closed on their merger to form AdvancePierre Foods. The combined entity has approximately $1.3 billion in net sales.

Credit Suisse, Barclays Capital, Morgan Stanley, BMO Capital Markets and Deutsche Bank led the financing syndication. More than 75 lenders are part of the syndicate and normal working capital needs will be satisfied with a Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility supplied by Wells Fargo. AdvancePierre Foods is owned by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, LP, current Advance shareholders, and members of the company's leadership team.

AdvancePierre Foods is a leading supplier of value-added protein and handheld convenience products to the foodservice, school, retail, club, vending and convenience store markets. The company offers a full line of packaged sandwiches, fully cooked chicken and beef products, Philly-style steak, breaded beef, pork and poultry, and bakery products. Headquartered in Cincinnati, with some divisional leadership based in Oklahoma, AdvancePierre Foods operates protein processing facilities in Oklahoma, Ohio and Iowa as well as sandwich assembly facilities in North Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina. The company also operates bakeries in North Carolina and Oklahoma.
Bill Toler, current CEO of Pierre Foods, is the CEO of the new company. The management team for AdvancePierre Foods includes executives from all three companies.

Source: AdvancePierre Foods

Thanasi Foods launches “steakhouse-style” jerky brand

Thanasi Foods LLC, a nationally distributed supplier of branded foods, announced plans to launch a premium line of innovative meat snacks called "Duke’s", bringing all of Thanasi Foods' premium, co-branded, and flavorful meat snacks together under one brand label.

Duke’s is launching with Thanasi Foods' newest co-brand ingredient partner, Kikkoman, as a key ingredient in the Duke’s Teriyaki Beef Jerky product. Additionally, Thanasi Foods is introducing Duke’s with the first nationally-distributed Angus beef jerky. Duke’s Original Angus Beef Jerky takes the quality of beef jerky a step further by exclusively using 100% USDA-approved Angus beef as the protein of choice.

"This is an incredibly exciting time for Thanasi Foods, our distributor and retailer partners, and consumers," commented Justin Havlick, CEO and president of Thanasi Foods. " Duke’s is the result of our five-year product line planning, allowing us to bring generations of recipes, nationally-known co-brands, and America's favorite steakhouse flavors together under one brand line. Duke’s offers distinctive steakhouse-style flavors, ingredients, packaging, and most importantly a small-batch, handcrafted quality that is a stand-out against other meat snacks. These are exactly the product differentiators that we aspired to bring to market, and we are confident that our consumers will recognize the Duke’s difference in just one bite."

"Beef jerky is a high-priced snack category deserving of a new, national brand leader, built on the fundamentals of handcrafted quality to grow household penetration," added Havlick. "Knowing that a true-quality, premium brand now exists on America's retail shelves is going to keep consumers shopping the category. Thanasi Foods is pleased to introduce the brand with our new Angus Beef Jerky and the world-famous Kikkoman flavored Teriyaki Beef Jerky. These products round out our current steakhouse-style smoked meats line-up, which includes our popular Jim Beam Bourbon Glaze Steak Strips, Frank’s Redhot Chile 'N Lime Steak Strips, and Stubb's Spicy Bar-B-Q Brisket Strips.”

"Kikkoman stands for quality, and represents the collective of almost 400 years of Asian sauce and marinade craftsmanship," said Mike Evans, vice president of marketing, Kikkoman USA. "From the soy sauce Duke’s uses, to the Takumi Teriyaki Sauce that was selected as a key ingredient of the Duke’s Teriyaki Beef Jerky, we are proud to match Kikkoman with such a quality beef jerky brand."

Like all of Thanasi Foods' products, the Duke’s product line is USA-made. Duke’s is primarily produced at Thanasi Foods Macomb Smoked Meats LLC facility in Macomb, Michigan.

Source: Thanasi Foods LLC

Restaurant Performance Index stays flat in August

As a result of continued soft sales and traffic levels, the National Restaurant Association's comprehensive index of restaurant activity remained below 100 for the fourth consecutive month in August. The Association's Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) – a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry – stood at 99.5 in August, essentially unchanged from the previous three months. In addition, the RPI stood below 100 for the fourth consecutive month, which signifies contraction in the index of key industry indicators.

"Although the sales and traffic indicators remained soft in August, restaurant operators remain relatively optimistic that conditions will improve in the months ahead," said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the Association. "Restaurant operators' outlook for sales growth improved somewhat in August, and their plans for capital spending activity held steady."

The Current Situation Index, which measures current trends in four industry indicators (same-store sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures), stood at 98.9 in August – up slightly from a level of 98.8 in July. However, the Current Situation Index remained below 100 for the 36th consecutive month, which signifies contraction in the current situation indicators.

Restaurant operators reported a net decline in same-store sales for the fifth consecutive month in August, with results almost identical to the previous two months. Thirty-eight percent of restaurant operators reported a same-store sales gain between August 2009 and August 2010, compared with 39 percent of operators who reported higher sales in both June and July. Meanwhile, 43 percent of operators reported a same-store sales decline in August, compared with 44 percent of operators who reported negative sales in July.

Restaurant operators also continued to report a net decline in customer traffic levels in August. Thirty-five percent of restaurant operators reported an increase in customer traffic between August 2009 and August 2010, matching the proportion of operators who reported higher customer traffic in July. Forty-two percent of operators reported a traffic decline in August, down slightly from 46 percent who reported lower traffic in July.

Restaurant operators reported relatively steady capital spending levels in recent months. Forty-four percent of operators said they made a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling during the past three months, relatively unchanged from the levels reported in the previous three months.

The Expectations Index, which measures restaurant operators' six-month outlook for four industry indicators (same-store sales, employees, capital expenditures and business conditions), stood at 100.1 in August – up slightly from a level of 100.0 in July.

Restaurant operators remain cautiously optimistic about sales growth in the coming months. Thirty-eight percent of restaurant operators expect to have higher sales in six months (compared with the same period in the previous year), matching the proportion who reported similarly last month. In comparison, 17 percent of restaurant operators expect their sales volume in six months to be lower than it was during the same period in the previous year, compared with 20 percent who reported similarly last month. Although restaurant operators are relatively positive about sales growth in the months ahead, they are not as optimistic about the direction of the overall economy. Twenty-five percent of restaurant operators said they expect economic conditions to improve in six months, down slightly from 26 percent who reported similarly last month and the lowest level in 18 months. In comparison, 21 percent of operators said they expect economic conditions to worsen in the next six months, matching the proportion who reported similarly last month.

Although their economic outlook softened in recent months, restaurant operators are holding relatively steady on plans for capital expenditures. Forty-two percent of restaurant operators plan to make a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling in the next six months, compared with 43 percent who reported similarly last month.

The full report is available online at www.restaurant.org/pdfs/research/index/201008.pdf.

Source: National Restaurant Association