Reinhart FoodService buys Banta Foods

The sale is expected to close Friday.

CEO and President Chuck Banta, who bought the 103-year-old company from father Charles T. Banta nearly two decades ago, said he’s been in talks with Reinhart for about a year and felt the time to sell was right because of increasing consolidation in the food service industry.

“I just kind of looked into the future and saw a lot of landmines out there, and it looked a little cloudy to me,” he said via cell phone from Kansas City. “Our industry is in somewhat of a flux.”

Banta said his company fits logistically into La Crosse, Wisc.-based Reinhart’s footprint, which covers about 35,000 customers in the Midwest, including Burger King, Subway and a number of independent operators, schools and hospitals. Banta Foods has national and regional clients, such as Panera and Applebee’s, in 10 states.

Banta would not disclose a sale price.

Banta Foods will retain its name, its approximately 200 employees and its Springfield operations at 1620 N. Packer Road, and it will become a division of Reinhart FoodService, Banta said. He’ll stay on as division general manager.

Despite rising fuel costs and a consolidating industry, Banta Foods hasn’t lost momentum. The company in March was named the area’s third-fastest growing business at Springfield Business Journal’s Dynamic Dozen awards, with 38 percent revenue growth between 2005 and 2007. Revenues last year were $197.6 million, up from $172.6 million in 2006.

Still, Reinhart FoodService’s size – its holding company Reyes Holdings is the 24th-largest private company in the United States, according to Forbes – will bring Banta Foods to a new level.

“It just gives us a bigger toolbox to work out of,” Banta said. “It gives us a lot more horsepower going out into the future.”