
The Searcy Daily Citizen reported Friday that the Schulze & Burch Biscuit Co. plans to have Yarnell’s ice cream back on store shelves by early May.
The report, available on the newspaper’s website (sub. req’d), cites a Schulze & Burch consultant, Jeff Holtz, who says the company is aiming to put product back on store shelves by "by late April or early May."
Manufacturing will begin in late March, he said.
The Chicago-based company completed its purchase of the Yarnell’s business in January. At the time, it said it planned "to make Yarnell’s products available at favorite retailers across the state by this spring."
Schulze & Burch made the winning, $1.3 million bid for Yarnell’s assets in a December auction held by Yarnell’s bankruptcy trustee. Creditors included the Arkansas Development Finance Authority and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
Schulze & Burch makes toaster pastries and granola bars and already operates a plant in Searcy.
Yarnell’s halted production in June and declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August. The company laid off 200 workers and shut its doors after nearly 80 years in business because of a decline in ice cream sales and rising food and fuel prices.