Monogram Foods has entered into a licensing agreement with Utz and Zapp’s brands to launch a line of unique and different take-home hot appetizers. Consumers can now enjoy their favorite snack flavors in hot appetizers, available in the frozen appetizer section of leading retailers.

“With +90% of consumers now snacking multiple times throughout the day, we are excited to offer a flavorful twist to snacking. These items offer the same flavors you know and trust from Utz and Zapp’s, now available in a hot snack.” Said Wes Jackson, President, Monogram Foods.

If you’re hosting a party or just in the mood for a lite bite, the new Utz and Zapp’s hot appetizers have you covered. Kitchen Specialists from both companies worked collaboratively to ensure flavor profiles of these products matched the iconic seasoning of Zapp’s potato chips and Utz Cheese Balls to deliver flavorful fun! The line of hot appetizers includes:

• Zapp’s Boudin Balls are coated with Cajun Crawtator seasoning and include Cajun-style andouille sausage and rice.
   
• Zapp’s Fried Pickles are thick crinkle-cut pickles battered with Voodoo seasoning, plus an extra packet of Voodoo seasoning for Voodoo die-hard fans.
   
• Zapp’s Pimento Cheese Stuffed Jalapeño Peppers are made with 100% premium Palmetto pimento cheese and coated with Hotter N’ Hot Jalapeño seasoning.
   
• Utz Cheese-Filled Cheese Balls were made to look just like Utz cheeseballs – same color and flavor – with real hot melted cheese inside.

“We are excited to work with Monogram Foods to create new ways for our fans to experience some of our best snack brands in an appetizer form,” said Mark Schreiber, Chief Customer Officer, Utz Quality Foods, LLC, “With this relationship, we can provide consumers with new ways to enjoy their favorites, like Zapp’s Voodoo, Cajun Crawtator and Hotter N’ Hot Jalapeño as well as Utz Cheese Balls.”

The Utz branded Cheese-Filled Cheese Balls are available nationally at Walmart stores while the Zapp’s branded are available in the Southeast at Walmart stores, select Giant Foods stores, Piggly Wiggly, Supervalu Central Region, Harris Teeter, and Lidl among others as the items get authorized across the country.

About Monogram Foods

Monogram Foods, headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., is a privately held food manufacturing company operating facilities in Iowa, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Virginia and Wisconsin. Serving as a major co-manufacturer and private label provider for strategic partners throughout the nation, Monogram collaborates with key partners to create processes that bring existing, as well as, new foods products demanded by the modern marketplace. Founded in 2004 with the purchase of King Cotton and Circle B brand meats from Sara Lee Corporation, Monogram Foods manufactures and markets top-quality food products. Among these products are a full range of meat snacks, corn dogs, pre-cooked bacon, smoked sausage, appetizers, sandwiches and other value-added meats. Additionally, Monogram Foods produces internally owned brands including Wild Bill’s, O’Brien’s, Trail’s Best, Hannah’s Bull’s, Snapps, King Cotton, Circle B, as well as, licensed brands including Johnsonville, Butterball and Team Realtree.

About Utz Quality Foods, LLC.

Founded in 1921, Utz Quality Foods, LLC. is the largest family‐managed, privately held, salty snack company in the United States, producing a full line of snack foods including potato chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, corn chips, tortillas, veggie stix/straws, popcorn, onion rings, pork skins and more.

Its brands, which include Utz, Golden Flake, Zapp's, Dirty Potato Chips, Good Health, Bachman, Jax, Wachusett, Snikiddy, Boulder Canyon, Kitchen Cooked, Snyder of Berlin, Tim’s Cascade, Hawaiian Brand, among others, are distributed nationally and internationally through grocery, mass merchant, club stores, convenience stores, drug stores and other channels.

Based in Hanover, Pennsylvania, Utz operates fourteen manufacturing facilities located in Pennsylvania, Alabama, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Washington, and Massachusetts and distributes its products through 1,645 Direct Store Delivery Routes (DSD) and direct to customers (DTC).