PHOENIX, May 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Inventure Foods, Inc.
(Nasdaq: SNAK), a leading specialty food marketer and manufacturer,
and TGI Friday's, the nation's original casual dining bar and
grill, have agreed to terms on a new long-term licensing agreement
that will result in further expansion of the successful TGI
Friday's snack line (www.tgifsnack.com) to include new product
categories and international distribution. The contract extends the
licensing partnership through 2024. Detailed terms of the agreement
have not been disclosed.
"TGI Friday's has been a valued partner of ours since we first
began our licensing relationship in 2000. This new, expanded
agreement is great news for fans of great tasting snacks," said
Terry McDaniel, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Inventure Foods, Inc. "Our original licensing
agreement allowed us to develop some of our top-selling snacks to
date, yet this new agreement sets the stage for additional growth
as it will result in great tasting new products, new product
categories and expanded distribution across an international
geographic footprint. This is a win for Inventure Foods, TGI
Friday's and snack consumers around the world."
The new agreement allows for geographic expansion of the TGI
Friday's snack food line into new countries including Canada, Mexico, Belize, Costa
Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, China, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, United
Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, New
Zealand, and Saudi
Arabia.
Additionally, the new agreement allows Inventure Foods
(www.inventurefoods.com) to expand the TGI Friday's snack brand
into new snack categories such as popcorn, corn snacks, snack mixes
and tortilla chips.
"The TGI Friday's menu provides great inspiration," said
Steve Sklar, Senior Vice President
and General Manager for Inventure Foods, Inc. "When you take our
expertise in innovation and pair it with the original, authentic
taste of TGI Friday's, you find the perfect combination for
development of delicious, ready-to-eat snacks."
Inventure Foods' line of TGI Friday's snacks first appeared in
2000 as ready-to-eat Potato Skins. The product line has since grown
to include Jalapeno Poppers, Cheddar Cheese Crunchy Fries, Onion
Rings, Mozzarella Sticks and other menu-inspired snacks.
Today, TGI Friday's snack foods are sold at retail outlets
nationwide, including club, grocery, value, convenience, mass
merchandise and vending channels.
"Our partnership with Inventure is among our successful
licensing agreements," said Carl
Robie, Vice President Global Strategic Sourcing & Brand
Licensing for TGI Friday's. "This new agreement lays the foundation
for another decade's worth of great-tasting snack foods that are
truly representative of the unique TGI Friday's experience."
About Inventure Foods, Inc.
With manufacturing
facilities in Arizona,
Indiana, Washington, Georgia and Oregon, Inventure Foods, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNAK)
is a marketer and manufacturer of specialty food brands in
better-for-you and indulgent categories under a variety of Company
owned and licensed brand names, including Boulder Canyon Natural
Foods®, Jamba®, Seattle's Best
Coffee®, Rader Farms®, T.G.I.
Friday's™, Nathan's Famous®, Vidalia Brands®, Poore
Brothers®, Tato Skins®, Willamette Valley Fruit Company™ and Bob's
Texas Style®. For further information about Inventure Foods,
please visit www.inventurefoods.com.
About TGI Friday's
As the original casual dining bar
and grill, TGI Friday's offers authentic American food and
legendary drinks, served with genuine personal service.
Bringing people together to socialize and celebrate the freeing and
liberating spirit of "Friday" was the concept's founding premise,
from which the brand promise "In Here, It's Always Friday®" was
born. To share that social Fridays™
experience all over the world, TGI Friday's proudly serves guests
with over 900 restaurants in more than 60 countries. Making
every day feel like a Friday wouldn't be possible without creating
a place where friends feel free to get together. That's why TGI
Friday's takes pride in its nearly 8,000 skilled and knowledgeable
bartenders, all of whom for the past twenty years have competed
annually for the title of the "World's Greatest TGI Fridays
Bartender."
The Fridays guest recognition program, Give Me More
Stripes®, gives Fridays' closest friends exclusive insider
rewards, special event access, and menu sneak peeks, and is not
only the first loyalty program of its kind in the industry, but one
of the most progressive.
TGI Friday's believes in having a good time, but also in the
importance of drinking responsibly. Additionally, its
Responsible Business Program is focused on positively impacting the
communities it serves. For more information, visit
www.fridays.com.
Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements
This press
release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not
limited to, our expectations regarding delivering improved
financial results and operating margin in fiscal 2014, the ability
to strengthen our core brand portfolios and expand our
health/natural product portfolios, the ability to capitalize on our
growth opportunities in the better-for-you and snack food
categories and to generate long-term sustainable growth for
stockholders, and the ability to achieve a record performance in
2014 and capitalize on our growth opportunities. Because such
statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results
to differ from the forward-looking statements contained in this
press release and that may affect the Company's prospects in
general include, but are not limited to, general economic
conditions, increases in cost or availability of ingredients,
packaging, energy and employees, price competition and industry
consolidation, ability to execute strategic initiatives, product
recalls or safety concerns, disruptions of supply chain or
information technology systems, customer acceptance of new products
and changes in consumer preferences, food industry and regulatory
factors, interest rate risks, dependence upon major customers,
dependence upon existing and future license agreements, the
possibility that we will need additional financing due to future
operating losses or in order to implement the Company's business
strategy, acquisition and divestiture-related risks, the volatility
of the market price of the Company's common stock, and such other
factors as are described from time to time in the Company's filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All
forward−looking statements are based on information available to
the Company as of the date of this news release, and the Company
assumes no obligation to update such statements.
SOURCE Inventure Foods, Inc.