Atkinson Candy Company announced a recent agreement with Laco Inc., a strategic partner of The Warrell Corporation, to purchase the Slo Poke, Black Cow and Sophie Mae brands. The three classic brands will become a part of the Atkinson family of traditional made in America confections.Atkinson Candy Company will have exclusivity on marketing and sales of the newly acquired brands, while manufacturing details are still in discussions. During this transition period, Atkinson Candy Company and The Warrell Corporation plan to utilize the contract manufacturing capabilities of Warrell at its facility in York, Pa., as well as Atkinson's facilities in Lufkin, Texas.
"This strategic transaction by Atkinson and the potential for additional product introductions represent new opportunities for both Warrell and Atkinson Candy Company to work together and maximize existing capabilities of both companies to our mutual benefit." according to Pat Huffman, president of The Warrell Corporation. Eric Atkinson, president of Atkinson Candy Company says, "We are proud to bring these three great items into our ever growing house of classic candy brands. This acquisition points to our continued strategic growth in the classic confections market and allows us to work more closely with other family owned U.S. businesses."
The Sophie Mae brand, in particular, presents Atkinson Candy Company with a unique opportunity to expand its existing peanut brittle business, which its has been producing since 1938. "This is a fantastic occasion for us to build line extensions for our peanut brittle by leveraging this well-known brand name," says Eric Atkinson.
