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Cherrydale Farms candy-making plant in Upper Macungie is up for auction
By Tyrone Richardson | OF THE MORNING CALL
May 12, 2009
An auction preview was held Monday at the Cherrydale Farms candy-making facility in Upper Macungie Township. (Rich Schultz/Special to The Morning Call)
The century-old Cherrydale name and its mission of providing candy for student and charity fundraisers will continue, but the company has decided to get out of the candy-making business.
Cherrydale Farms, a production and packaging facility on Mill Road in Upper Macungie Township, will be put up for auction later this week.
The 270,000-square-foot facility ceased production in March, and its more than 100 employees have been gradually joining the ranks of the unemployed as the facility winds downs to its final days.
Cherrydale Fundraising, which owns a stake in Cherrydale Farms, will buy candy from a vendor.
'They're Cherrydale recipes, but made by somebody else,' said Ross Cherry, CEO of Cherrydale Fundraising, which is headquartered in Quakertown and says it has raised more than $1.5 billion for fundraisers since its founding in Philadelphia in 1907.
Cherry mentioned the Hershey Co. and Mars as possible suppliers, but also said there is a chance Cherrydale candies will continue to be made in Upper Macungie.
He said his cousin, Richard Toltzis, who has been involved in the Cherrydale business, wants to bid on the entire facility and its contents. The bid would include retaining and rehiring the facility's employees. Efforts to reach Toltzis were unsuccessful.
The auction of Cherrydale Farms follows a decision by majority owner Rosen Capital Management to exit the candy business. Rosen has sold its share of the fundraising arm back to Cherrydale Fundraising, Cherry said.
Cherrydale got involved with Rosen after it decided to branch out beyond its own brand. In 1999, it began producing candy for Bartons Candy, which Rosen had a stake in.
The auction of the Upper Macungie plant is set for 10 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel on Airport Road in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. Those interested can bid on the entire facility or individual pieces.
During an auction preview Monday, Cherrydale's parking lot was filled with cars from out of state, including New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Florida. A lone Cherrydale truck was parked at a loading dock. The once-manicured lawn was overgrown with grass and weeds.
Cherrydale has undergone a series of transformations over the years. In 1986, the company moved operations to Upper Hanover Township, Montgomery County, and was eventually sold to outside investors.
The brand fell on hard times in the 1990s, and the Cherry family returned in 1999 to rescue the company from bankruptcy. The Cherrydale Farms operation in Upper Hanover was sold to Hershey that year and the company moved to Upper Macungie.
In May 2006, Cherrydale announced it would move most of its fundraising operations to a facility in Texas. The moved resulted in the laying off of more than 15 employees.
