Hearthside Foodsolutions Company Fact Sheet

Hearthside Food Solutions is a contract manufacturer and packager for some of the largest baking companies in the United States, including Kraft Foods, General Mills, and the Kellogg Company, with sales of approximately $700 million.

Hearthside was created in 2009 when the Chicago-based private equity inventment firm, Wind Point Partners acquired a portion of the Roskam Baking Company, a contract manufacturer in Grand Rapids, Mich., and renamed Hearthside.  In May, 2010, Hearthside expanded by acquiring Consolidated Biscuit Company (CBC), and the cereal division of Golden Temple of Oregon.

Hearthside operates all of the former Consolidated Biscuit plants, which primarily produce cereal, cookies, crackers and cereal bars for Kraft, Kellogg's, and General Mills, in McComb, Ohio; Michigan City, Indiana; London, Kentucky; Sandusky, Ohio and  Wilmar, Minnesota.

The more than 800 full-time workers employed at the McComb, Ohio plant have been fighting to become members of the BCTGM since 2002. Workers at the plant work in the following departments: Bake/Mixing, Packaging, warehouse/Shipping, Quality Assurance, Maintenance, Sanitation, EZ Pak, Research & Development, and Thrift Store.

The three plants Hearthside acquired from Roskam Baking Company are all located in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Those facilities, which make cereal, cereal bars, and granola bars for Kellogg Company, General Mills, and Quaker Oats, are all under contract with BCTGM Local 70.

Hearthside also operates a Golden Temple plant in Eugene, Oregon.

Hearthside is run by Rich Scalise, who was appointed Chief Executive Officer by Wind Point Partners after Hearthside was created. Scalise is a 32-year veteran of the food industry, most recently as President of Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products, a division of Ralcorp Holdings Inc. Prior to joining Ralcorp, Scalise spent 18 years with ConAgra Foods in a variety of roles.