SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 1, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diamond Foods, Inc. (Nasdaq:DMND) today announced a $10 million expansion of its production facility in Norwich, U.K. to meet increasing demand. The Kettle® brand has experienced significant growth driven by the introduction of its new Kettle® Ridge Crisp line, the expansion of its Kettle® Chip Sharing, Single Serve and Multi-Pack lines and an increased penetration in both the Impulse Channel and international markets.
The Kettle® brand performed well during the important Christmas holiday season, up 13% for the twelve weeks ending December 25, 2010 and up 19% in the four weeks running up to Christmas according to scanner data.
"We are continuing to drive strong growth in a tough marketplace and see a lot of opportunity to sustain this trend," said Jeremy Bradley, Managing Director for Kettle Foods Europe. "It's a credit to the work of the Norwich team that Diamond is making this investment, which supports our plans for growth and will create a number of new jobs for the region."
The expansion is anticipated to get underway in the spring and includes new packaging lines, an increase in multi-packing capability and enhancements to employee facilities.
About Diamond
Diamond Foods is a high-growth innovative packaged food company focused on building, acquiring and energizing brands including Kettle®Chips, Emerald® snack nuts, Pop Secret® popcorn, and Diamond of California® culinary and snack nuts. The Company's products are distributed in a wide range of stores where snacks and culinary nuts are sold.
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Corporate Web Site: www.diamondfoods.com
Consumer Web Sites: www.kettlebrand.com, www.kettlefoods.co.uk, www.emeraldnuts.com, www.popsecret.com, www.diamondnuts.com, www.snackbowl2011.com, www.diamondsnackbetter.com
Note regarding forward-looking statements: This release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements necessarily depend on assumptions may be incorrect and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from projections made in this release. Some factors that could cause actual results to differ from our expectations include risks loss of key customers and an increase in competition. A more extensive list of factors that could materially affect our results can be found in Diamond's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. They are available publicly and on request from Diamond's Investor Relations Department.