Golden State Foods (GSF), Irvine, Calif., acquired KanPak China, a manufacturer to the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry, located in Xiantao City (Hubei Province). GSF is now the 51% majority owner of KanPak China.

"We are thrilled about our partnership with KanPak, a very professional company with a solid team in China," says Mark Wetterau, chairman and CEO of GSF. "This acquisition is part of our company's strategy to meet the needs of fast-growing international markets. We are especially looking forward to building our local manufacturing capabilities in China to serve our customers in that region. KanPak has an excellent facility there, providing opportunities to produce a full range of products."

Initially, GSF plans to produce portion control liquid products such as ketchup, sauces, dressings and syrups for QSR customers beginning in 2013. GSF also produces meat products, produce, bakery and bulk- packaged liquid products and provides full-line distribution services.

KanPak currently produces a variety of dairy-based products such as smoothies, ice cream, coffees, creamers, frozen desserts and specialty beverages for the QSR and retail industries. Wetterau says that the partnership will be "complementary," enabling both companies to "round out" their offerings.

"KanPak is excited to have partnered with Golden State Foods, a leader in diversified food supply and distribution to the QSR industry," says Dennis Cohlmia, KanPak's chief executive officer. "Through our partnership with GSF, we have many reasons to believe in a bright and productive future, including our joint commitments to customer satisfaction through product solutions that leverage our core competencies. This includes GSF's leadership and expertise in liquid products portion pack and high-volume runs and KanPak's versatile aseptic capabilities. We believe that together, we will help our customers succeed in achieving their goals by providing multi-national and Chinese domestic foodservice operators ongoing product solutions."

To read more about Golden State Foods, check out Refrigerated & Frozen Foods' December 2012 issue, as GSF was named one of six companies to watch in 2013.