G&S Foods is a pure play when it comes to private label and co-packing. Its website states “our brand is your brand,” meaning the Hanover, Pa.-based company doesn’t have a brand that competes with its customers.

Founded and named after Steve Garvick and Dale Spahr in 1996, G&S Foods broadened its capabilities by purchasing Tasty Snack Quality Foods in 1999. The business was then acquired in 2018 by MAW Acquisitions LP, run by the Warehime family who had owned Snyder’s of Hanover for decades.

Today, Patricia Warehime, wife of the late Michael Warehime who was chairman of Synder’s of Hanover, and their daughters are building on their family’s legacy in the snack industry, noted president and chief executive officer, of G&S Foods.

With the new ownership, the question was whether to rebrand G&S Foods or keep its name.

“We found what was an innovative way of keeping the history of the company, but creating a new focus where G&S means ‘great snacks, great service,’ ” he explained. “We planned to keep the background of the brand alive but tailor it to who we are now.”

Overseeing the operation are veterans of the food industry, including Morgan; Tony Hartlaub, chief financial officer; Wade Fitzkee, vice president of operations; Travis Grim, vice president of technical services; Christina Garcia, vice president of human resources; Thomas Koppelmann, vice president of sales; and Dena Sottile, executive assistant.

“Our team has a lot of background in branded businesses, so we understand what our customers are up against — the timelines and demands,” Morgan said. “Because we understand our customers’ needs — most of our senior team and ownership were in their shoes before — that’s created a sense of urgency about building a culture around nimbleness. We can make decisions quicker, and we don’t allow a lot of management layers to slow us down.”

He pointed out that G&S Foods strives to attract a “healthy mix” of products and customers.

“It includes core CPG companies that create longer runs and some stability, but we also know that emerging brands are exciting and probably set us up for future growth,” Morgan observed.

“As the landscape changes and consumers start to experience and purchase more private label products, we have evolved into more of that business,” he continued. “Although dollar sales are still growing, the number of pounds produced is not expanding at the same rate. As a result, we find ourselves trying to be more creative in product offerings as retailers and brands seek to offer a wider range of products at competitive prices.”

The rise in plant-based protein snacks provides both the biggest challenge and opportunity for business.

“It’s a challenge to get protein snacks to taste good, but there’s a huge need from manufacturers — both big and small — to be able to create good-tasting, protein-based snack occasions,” Morgan said.

Morgan added that being privately owned and backed by the Warehime family that’s so familiar with the snack industry has enabled G&S Foods to invest in new capabilities. Meanwhile, from an operational standpoint, Fitzkee has worked with select vendors to adapt their equipment with technical features tailored to meet G&S Foods’ focus on the future.

“We tried to plan for everything so that we can create new products without having to purchase additional equipment and wait for months for it to be delivered,” he recalled. “Unlike a branded company where you are running the same product day in and day out, we switch products sometimes daily, so we need that flexibility as well.”

This article is an excerpt from the March 2025 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on G&S Foods, click here.