Land O’Lakes to Buy Kozy Shack

Arden Hills, Minn.-based Land O'Lakes Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire Kozy Shack Enterprises Inc., a market leader in the chilled dairy desserts category in North America, for an undisclosed amount.

“Kozy Shack is a strong strategic fit with our value-added dairy foods product portfolio,” Land O’Lakes President and CEO Chris Policinski said. “This long-time company – known for its strong brand and reputation for quality – opens the door for Land O’Lakes to achieve future growth in the attractive dairy dessert category.”

The deal is expected to close on July 31.

“It is exciting for the 40-plus year-old Kozy Shack brand to be infused with expanded resources and brand-building focus,” Kozy Shack President and CEO Robert Striano said. “The future is bright for the Kozy Shack business as a strategic brand within the Land O’Lakes portfolio.”

New York-based Kozy Shack was founded by the late Vincent Gruppuso more than 40 years ago, and has remained a family-owned company. A manufacturer and marketer of premium dessert products in the United States and Canada, the company has production facilities in Hicksville, N.Y.; Turlock, Calif.; and Lough Egish, Ireland. The company also owns and operates a logistics services company, Freshway Distributors.

“The acquisition of Kozy Shack represents a new category for the cooperative – refrigerated desserts – which enables us to provide our retail customers with an even wider selection of premium dairy food products,” Policinski said, noting that Land O’Lakes will apply its extensive sales, marketing, distribution and customer service expertise to expand sales of Kozy Shack products.

Land O’Lakes Inc. is a national, farmer-owned food and agricultural cooperative with annual sales of nearly $13 billion.