The spreads will form the 'Lifeway Cream Cheese Gourmet' range and be available in a variety of flavours including plain whipped, vegetable, strawberry, chives, apple cinnamon raisin, sun dried tomato, lox and onion, honey mustard, cheddar cheese with horseradish, and apricot. They will be sold in 7.5 oz containers and the company hopes to add more varieties to the product line in the coming months.
"We are excited about the growth opportunities of developing an additional product line for our current and new customers," said Julie Smolyansky, the president of Lifeway Foods. "We are confident we can grow our cream cheese line here in Chicago and nationally."
Lifeway indicated its desire to move further into a wider range of dairy products when it acquired Ilya's Farms, a Philadelphia-based privately-held producer of gourmet cream cheeses for a total cash purchase price of $575,600 earlier this year.
"We are excited about the growth opportunities this acquisition presents to Lifeway Foods," said Julie Smolyansky, president of the company. "This provides Lifeway with an important East Coast presence and distribution centre, as well as an additional product line."
"With Lifeway's marketing and advertising structure, we are confident we can grow our new cream cheese line in Chicago and the Tri-State area. In addition, this acquisition should help boost the distribution of our Kefir, La Frutaô, and Farmers Cheese lines," said Smolyansky at the time.
The company purchased Ilya's Farms recipes and brand name, and will lease its production facility for a two-year period.
Lifeway Foods reported first quarter revenue of $3.935 million, which was an increase of 18.9 percent compared to $3.309 million in the first quarter of 2003. Net income was $0.765 million or $0.09 per diluted share, compared to $0.993 million or $0.12 per diluted share for the same period last year.
In June, Lifeway expanded its range of kefirs with a new line of no-added-sugar dairy drinks for consumers following low-carbohydrate diets.