The plant was acquired from Carla’s Pasta.

Rodney McMullen addressed the pending acquisition while reporting Kroger’s Q1 results.

This is the company’s second acquisition in the past two months.

Nearly 180 employees will not be retained under the new ownership.

The company will also acquire the Nowy Sacz plant in Poland.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of July.

The new owners plan to rename the company to Hilltop Meat Market.

Whetstone Distribution is a newly formed distributor in the Midwest.

The acquisition will grow its presence in core and adjacent markets of Central and Southeastern United States.

The news follows the company’s weak first-half financial performance.