CPI rechristened as Premier Blending

Plaza Belmont LLC, a Shawnee Mission, KS-based merchant banker, has purchased CPI Corp. (Wichita, KS) and will be renaming the company, Premier Blending, Inc. The sale includes the company's 60,000-sqft manufacturing facility equipped with seven blending lines feeding six packers.

Originally founded in 1967, the company is a co-packer of dry-blended mixes and bases with over 1,500 product formulas in its repertoire including: pizza dough mixes and bases, breading and batter mixes, bakery mixes and bases, drink mixes, spice blends and seasonings, and gravy and sauce mixes. The company is capable of packing these in several ways ranging from one- to 32-oz pouches and 15-lb sealed bags, up to 25- and 50-lb heat sealed bags and 2,000-lb totes.

Plaza Belmont is a private equity fund run by partners with backgrounds in acquisitions and operations of food manufacturing companies. The firm's first acquisition was SPI Foods (Fremont, NE).

Edited by Scott Hegenbart,
Managing Editor, Food Ingredients Online