After a bankruptcy stemming from a Salmonella outbreak, the Portales, NM plant of Sunland Inc., once the nation’s largest producer of organic peanut butter, was auctioned this week. Twice.
Hampton Farms, of NC, had what appeared to the winning bid of $20 million at the close of the March 20 auction. But Golden Boy Foods of Canada snuck in with a last minute bid of $25 million. Not wanting to deprive the long list of creditors the best price, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge David Thuma ordered a second auction that took place today. Hampton Farms offered $25.1 million and Golden Boy bid $26 million.
Th auction follows a bankruptcy stemming from a 2012 Salmonella outbreak that sickened 42 people in 20 states, most of whom were children under 10. The outbreaktriggered a recall of more than 250 products including brand names such as Trader Joe’s, Newman’s Own, Earth Balance, Harry & David, Target’s Archer Farms and Safeway’s Open Nature. The peanut butter also made its way into the National School Lunch program via bulk drums and in Smucker’s Uncrustables.
At the time of its October 2013 Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Sunland’s 30-page list of creditors had about 1,000 names. The company was also named as a defendant in a number of civil lawsuits stemming from illnesses associated with the outbreak.
