THOMASVILLE, GA – Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO) announced that it has acquired the Roman Meal trademark for breads and buns in the United States and its territories, and in Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, and the Bahamas from Roman Meal Company in Tacoma, Wash. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Roman Meal is a 103-year-old brand licensed by Roman Meal Company to bakeries in the U.S. and other countries. Flowers Foods is one of seven baking companies with the license to sell Roman Meal breads and buns in the United States. The brand’s annual retail sales in the U.S. are approximately $26 million.
The acquisition will have no impact on current licensing agreements in the continental U.S., which will now be administered by Flowers Foods. Roman Meal Company will license the Roman Meal brand from Flowers Foods in Hawaii and Guam, and will retain ownership of the brand in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Flowers has been a licensed baker of Roman Meal bread for more than 40 years. The Roman Meal brand is one of the oldest in the U.S. baking industry and has a reputation for premium, quality whole grain bakery foods.
About Flowers Foods
Headquartered in Thomasville, Ga., Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO) is one of the largest producers of fresh packaged bakery foods in the United States with annual sales of approximately $3.7 billion. Flowers operates bakeries across the country that produce a wide range of bakery products. Among the company’s top brands are Nature's Own, Wonder, and Tastykake. Learn more at www.flowersfoods.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to current expectations and are often identified by the use of words and phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “is likely to,” “is expected to” or “will continue,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those projected. Other factors that may cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements contained in this release and that may affect the company's prospects in general include, but are not limited to, (a) competitive conditions in the baked foods industry, including promotional and price competition, (b) changes in consumer demand for our products, including changes in consumer behavior, trends and preferences, including health and whole grain trends, and the movement toward more inexpensive store-branded products, (c) the success of productivity improvements and new product introductions, (d) a significant reduction in business with any of our major customers including a reduction from adverse developments in any of our customer's business, (e) fluctuations in commodity pricing, (f) energy and raw material costs and availability and hedging and counterparty risk, (g) our ability to fully integrate recent acquisitions into our business, (h) our ability to achieve cash flow from capital expenditures and acquisitions and the availability of new acquisitions that build shareholder value; (i) consolidation within the baking industry and related industries; and (j) the failure of our information technology systems to perform adequately, including any interruptions, intrusions or security breaches of such systems. The foregoing list of important factors does not include all such factors, nor necessarily present them in order of importance. In addition, you should consult other disclosures made by the company, including the risk factors included in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and disclosures made in other filings with the SEC and company press releases, for other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected by the company. We caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as they speak only as of the date made and are inherently uncertain. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise or update such statements, except as required by law.
Source: Flowers Foods, Inc.
