000314 Gwaltney Acquisition of Coddle Roasted MeatsMarch 6, 2000Smithfield, VA - Gwaltney of Smithfield, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, Inc., announced that it has acquired Coddle Roasted Meats of Portsmouth, Virginia. Coddle Roasted Meats was formed in 1997 by a management buyout of Doughties Manufacturing Specialty Meats which was founded in 1952. The principals, Skip Cothran and Bruce Biddle, successfully expanded Coddle's marketing niche in co-packing, national accounts and military sales achieving profitability within two years after the buyout and further achieving a dramatic increase in sales volume last year. All Coddle personnel are joining the Gwaltney team. This acquisition will allow Gwaltney Foodservice to further enhance its line of processed meats and will also provide additional product development capabilities to their existing program. The Coddle sales organization will report to Lin Gupton, Gwaltney Vice President-Foodservice. "We are excited about the opportunities this acquisition will give us in creating new value added products and service for our Foodservice customers", said Tim Seely, president and chief operating officer of Gwaltney of Smithfield, Ltd. DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY Smithfield Foods is the largest vertically integrated producer and marketer of fresh pork and processed meats in the United States. The Company's brands include Smithfield Lean Generation Pork(TM), Smithfield Premium, Gwaltney, John Morrell, Patrick Cudahy, Schneiders, Krakus, Lykes, Esskay, Kretschmar, Valleydale, Jamestown, Dinner Bell, Sunnyland, ReaLean, Patrick's Pride, Great, Tobin's First Prize, Peyton's, Rodeo, IQM, Curly's, Ember Farms and others. In addition, the Company has operating subsidiaries in Canada, France and Poland and participates in joint ventures in both Brazil and Mexico. The French subsidiaries produce and sell processed meats while the Canadian and Polish subsidiaries have slaughter operations and sell fresh pork, processed meat and other related food products. The joint ventures are involved in all aspects of the pork business including hog production and slaughter as well as the sale of fresh and processed meats.
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