WILDWOOD, FLA. — Great Plains Holdings, Inc. is set to increase its ownership in Bonjoe Gourmet Chips L.L.C., agreeing to acquire 51% of the Florida-based gourmet chip maker. In December, Great Plains signed a letter of intent to acquire a 30% ownership interest in Bonjoe Gourmet Chips in an all-stock transaction for an aggregate of 443,000 shares of Great Plains’ common stock. The latest transaction is subject to the results of an in-store blitz marketing campaign featuring Bonjoe’s gourmet chips.
Bonjoe offers more than 40 flavors of chips that employ a proprietary preparation process to reduce starches by up to 35% and include natural herbs and spices to give it “unique” flavors such as fried pork chops and garlic, bacon cheddar, blue cheese and jelly donut.
Over the next 90 days, a blitz marketing campaign will feature Bonjoe’s gourmet chips in 100 new convenience stores located in a select market in Florida run by Mr. Checkout, a national network of independent retail distributors, to test the Bonjoe Gourmet Chips brand in these stores. As part of the blitz marketing program, Bonjoe expects to be included in Mr. Checkout’s “What’s Hot On-line Catalog,” have access to the download section of over 160 Walgreens managers, more than 2,000 product brokers and 920 grocery store contacts and a targeted e-blast to distributors featuring new products recommended by Mr. Checkout.
“We are excited to work with the management of Bonjoe’s to grow it from a local chip phenomena into a national brand,” said Denis Espinoza, president of Great Plains Holdings, Inc.
Great Plains Holdings operates Ashland Holdings, L.L.C., a wholly owned subsidiary that focuses on the real estate sector and also seeks opportunistic acquisitions in varying industries.