International Multifoods to Buy Ontario Firm

MINNEAPOLIS —  International Multifoods Corp. said it has agreed to buy Bakers Choice, a California-based bakery distributor, for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition of Bakers Choice, which is the bakery distribution business of O’ So Fresh Foods and Johnson Bros. Egg Ranches Inc., is expected to be completed by the end of August, the company said in a statement.

Bakers Choice, based in Ontario, Calif., distributes ingredients and supplies to in-store bakeries in the southern California market. It offers a line of more than 2,500 items, including bakery mixes, frozen prepared doughs for breads and other baked goods, to about 700 customers, among them supermarket chains.

The 9-year-old company had sales of $26 million in fiscal 1987.

Bakers Choice, which employs about 70 people, operates a distribution center in Ontario and owns 15 trucks.

International Multifoods, with fiscal 1988 worldwide net sales of $1.7 billion, is a diversified food company with major operations in the United States, Canada and Venezuela.