Premium Holdings acquires Island City Baking

Vancouver – Premium Brands Holdings Corp. of Vancouver has acquired Island City Baking and its affiliate Conte Foods for $20.3 million. 

Island City Baking, founded in 1990, manufactures fresh and frozen artisan breads. The company operates out of a 45,000 sq. ft. production facility in Richmond, B.C. and services retail and foodservice customers in the southern area of the province.   

Conte Foods, which was founded in 1993, distributes a variety of specialty food products including items imported from Europe and fresh pasta produced at its new 16,000 sq. ft. facility in Burnaby, B.C. Together Island City and Conte Foods have annual sales of approximately $20 million.

“We are very pleased to welcome Carmelo De Luca, president of Island City, An Nguyen, senior vp operations of Island City and the rest of their team to Premium Brands,” said Mr. George Paleologou, president and CEO of Premium Brands, in a company release.

“Both Island City and Conte Foods have built strong reputations for manufacturing great high quality products and providing exceptional service to their customers. Furthermore, the dynamic and entrepreneurial cultures that Carmelo and An have developed at Island City and Conte Foods make these businesses a perfect fit with Premium Brands,” added Mr. Paleologou.

In a separate transaction, Premium Brands also announced the acquisition of the business and assets of Larosa Fine Foods, a manufacturer and wholesaler of specialty Italian products.  Larosa, which has annual sales of approximately $4 million and is currently based in Vancouver, will be moving its operations into Conte Foods’ Burnaby facility.