Barely more than a year after acquiring Wachusett Potato Chip Co., the last locally owned chip company, Utz Quality Foods Inc. said it’s more than doubled its employees in Central Massachusetts from 32 to 67.
Utz said it made considerable investments to the Wachusett plant in Fitchburg, where it produces Utz and Wachusett potato chips and Utz Potato Stix. The family-owned, Pennsylvania-based Utz said when it acquired Wachusett’s facility, trucks and other equipment in September 2011, it also leased a 50,000-square-foot warehouse in Sterling. The building serves as a place to store and redistribute products made at Fitchburg and Hanover, Penn., facilities.
The Sterling location is also the headquarters for 20 employees who provide direct store sales to local retailers.
“Utz is proud that we’ve more than doubled our employees in Fitchburg and brought on additional staff in Sterling to better serve our loyal New England customers,” said Steve Liantonio, regional senior vice president of sales.
Utz operates 14 distribution facilities in New England, half of which are located in Massachusetts. Additional sites are in California, Louisiana and Pennsylvania.
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