Dallas, Texas – April 3, 2023 – Sky Island Capital (“Sky Island”), a Dallas-based lower middle market private equity firm, is excited to announce that it has made a majority investment in Kaufhold’s Kurds Inc. (“Kaufhold’s Kurds” or the “Company”) alongside the second generation of the founding family. Kaufhold’s Kurds was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in the heart of Wisconsin’s dairyland in the town of Ellsworth, the Cheese Curd Capital of Wisconsin. Breaded cheese curds have been a staple in the region for decades and historically were a food category that was mostly enjoyed locally before Kaufhold’s Kurds came along. The original founders, John and Scott Kaufhold, originally operated a local restaurant serving breaded cheese curds and had the vision to hand-bread, package, and ship cheese curds beyond the local region and were instrumental in the prolific growth of the product from coast to coast over the last two decades. John’s Daughter, Renee Drummond, and her husband Anthony have been running the business for the last decade and have been instrumental in growing the business to what it is today.
We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Kaufhold’s Kurds and carry on the vision that the Kaufhold family has for the growth of breaded cheese curds in Wisconsin and beyond,” said Will Dobbs, a partner at Sky Island. “Kaufhold’s is as authentic as it gets – picking up the fresh curds daily, hand-breading, and flash freezing to ensure the highest quality product and ability to ship nationwide. The product has a fanatical following and we are excited to support Renee and Anthony in this next chapter of the family business.”
Kaufhold’s Kurds serves the who’s who of foodservice customers across all 50 states and uses high quality, fresh ingredients for its five flavors – Original, Jalapeño, Garlic, Sriracha, and Chesapeake Bay, including fresh cheese curds made from rBST-free milk. The combination of fresh curds directly from the creamery, quality ingredients, and a light hand-breading is a winning recipe and is what makes Kaufhold’s Kurds unique in the marketplace. Kaufhold’s is one of the largest employers in the county and recently completed a facility expansion that more than tripled its production capacity to accommodate the Company’s accelerated growth.
Anthony Drummond, CEO and co-owner of Kaufhold’s Kurds, remarked, “We are very excited and enthusiastic to partner with Sky Island. They have an extremely skilled team that fits within the culture of Kaufhold’s Kurds perfectly. We are also thrilled to retain some equity in the business. Furthermore, we strongly believe our partnership with Sky Island and the support provided from their team will help us grow and greatly prosper as a company.”
Kaufhold’s Kurds is Sky Island’s fifth platform investment in its inaugural fund.
About Sky Island Capital
Sky Island Capital (www.skyislandcap.com) is a lower middle market private equity firm based in Dallas, Texas that makes control investments in strategically viable North American manufacturing companies that exhibit transformational upside potential. Sky Island focuses on situations where it can draw upon its deep operational experience to support senior management in driving significant value creation through operational and strategic partnership, including add-on acquisitions. Sky Island is comfortable with and has a history of executing transactions with complex dynamics, including family-owned businesses, management buyouts, corporate carve-outs, public to privates, lender-controlled businesses, and other special situations.
About Kaufhold’s Kurds
Founded in 1995, Kaufhold’s Kurds is a wholesale manufacturer of hand breaded Wisconsin cheese curds primarily selling through food service distributors across the U.S. “Home of the Original HandBreaded Cheese Curd,” Kaufhold’s perfected its techniques and recipes for years at its locally owned restaurant in Ellsworth, Wisconsin before deciding to share its passion with the masses when it built its first wholesale production facility a few years later. Fast forward to today and Kaufhold’s is the largest dedicated breaded cheese curd manufacturer in the U.S. with sales to 49 states. Despite its growth, Kaufhold’s remains steadfast in its commitment to quality, starting with the finest and freshest Wisconsin cheese curds and hand breading them in small batches to ensure a light and complete coating. In addition to its bestselling Original flavor, Kaufhold’s has perfected four additional flavors – Jalapeño, Garlic, Sriracha, and Chesapeake Bay, with more to come.
For more information, please contact Will Dobbs or visit the websites listed below:
Will Dobbs
Partner
