Traverse City, Michigan, March 28 - Atwater Foods, LLC and Cherry Country FruitWorks, LLC have announced the merger of the two companies to form Shoreline Fruit, LLC. This merger is effective April 1, 2008 and includes the formation of a corporate headquarters in Traverse City, MI. The new company will continue the traditions of quality and customer service of its predecessors, while benefiting from a vertically integrated structure to support future growth and create new opportunities for their customers.
"This merger will enable us to further build our industrial customer base while bolstering our distributor and export business," stated Randy Atwater, Director of Sales and Marketing for the new company. CEO Ken Swanson adds, "We are dedicated to continuously improving our superior customer service and product quality. We have assembled a very strong management team to further grow and develop this unique and exciting business."
Atwater Foods, LLC is a dried fruit processor located in the apple-growing region of western New York. The Lyndonville, New York facility is the only major dried apple plant in the eastern United States, with a history dating back to the 19th century. Since 1986, Randy Atwater and his staff have expanded the Atwater Foods product line, process and facility to satisfy the increasing market demand for premium quality dried fruit. In recent years, the company has experienced strong growth in sales of dried cherries, blueberries and cranberries. Atwater operates two drying facilities, one in Lyndonville, NY and the other in Williamsburg, MI. Customer service will continue to be provided from the New York location.
Cherry Country FruitWorks, LLC is a large freezer warehouse and storage facility and processor of tart cherry concentrate and powder for the food and beverage industry. The facility is in Williamsburg, MI and is also the location of the Michigan dryer operations for Atwater Foods since 2006.
The owners of Shoreline Fruit, LLC include Cherry Bay Orchards, Inc. and Cherry Ke, Inc. These two family farms are the largest tart cherry growing operations in northern Michigan. Other owners include Randy Atwater, former General Manager and co-founder of Atwater Foods and T.J. Keyes, a founding member of Cherry Country FruitWorks.
Shoreline Fruit, LLC is part of a family of companies growing and processing a full line of cherry products. As such, it has the depth and flexibility needed to provide its customers with quality fruit products and superior customer service. The family of companies also includes Shoreline Fruit Growers, Inc., a cooperative of growers supplying cherries to Shoreline Fruit, LLC and others.
From the farm to the finished product, Shoreline Fruit, LLC controls quality with complete tracing capabilities and food safety procedures. Shoreline specializes in developing unique processes that deliver cherry and other fruit products in the purest form possible. Shoreline Fruit's product line includes dried cherries, apples, blueberries and cranberries and tart cherry concentrate and cherry powder.