Small Chino Firm Acquires Castle & Cooke’s Almonds Unit
As the all-important holiday munching season looms, Castle & Cooke said Wednesday it has sold its House of Almonds subsidiary to Spinner Corp. for an undisclosed price.
House of Almonds, which operates 106 company-owned stores and 139 franchised candy and nut stores under the House of Almonds and Morrow’s names, had sales of about $40 million last year.
Los Angeles-based Castle & Cooke has two main businesses: Dole Food Co., a worldwide producer and distributor of fresh produce and packaged fruit products, and Oceanic Properties, a real estate development firm. The company said it will retain six stores in Hawaii, but declined to discuss why it sold House of Almonds or whether the chain is profitable.
For Spinner Corp. of Chino, a small candy and nut retailer and wholesaler, the acquisition represents a leap in size.
Spinner, through its American Confectionery subsidiary, owns the 17-store Van Duyn Chocolate Shops in the Pacific Northwest; Miss Saylor’s Candies, a national nut and candy wholesale business and a leading manufacturer of sugar-free chocolates, and Pacific Nut Co., a wholesaler whose products include the “two baggers” of nuts sold at Dodger Stadium.
“The acquisition of House of Almonds completes a major segment of Spinner Corp.’s plan to build an integrated candy and nut company by adding a large, well-recognized retail chain for the distribution of candy and nut products, which the American Confectionery businesses manufacture and process,” said Stephen C. Kircher, chairman of Spinner.
Spinner owns a 100,000-square-foot candy and nut factory in Chino that employs 250 people.
Castle & Cooke bought House of Almonds in January as part of a purchase of most of the farming operations of Tenneco, most of it real estate.
“They felt that this was an opportunity for them to be where they wanted to be and an opportunity for us to be where we wanted to be,” said Gino Marinelli, chief operating officer of Spinner’s candy and nut business. “We bring to the party a lot of strength and knowledge of the industry.”
