The Middleby Corporation bought JC Ford, a manufacturer of tortilla production equipment systems. JC Ford offers a broad range of automated, full-line solutions for corn and flour tortillas, tortilla chips, and other corn-based snacks.

Founded in 1945, the company is based in Columbia, Tenn., and has USD 70 million in annual revenues. In 2021, the company moved into a new, 132,000-square-foot production facility in its Nashville-area headquarters.

Tortilla is one of the fastest growing baked food segments in the U.S. and worldwide.

“We have targeted the snack food category as an attractive growing market for our Food Processing Group. The acquisition of JC Ford complements our existing product offerings, significantly strengthening our presence in this faster growing category. The company has developed innovative solutions that have been quickly accepted as the industry standard, allowing customers to automate production lines with a low cost of ownership. JC Ford has highly recognizable customers with a strong base of recurring revenue,” said Tim FitzGerald, Middleby CEO. “We see significant opportunities to leverage synergies providing for added growth and margin opportunities.”

Photo: New Nashville Metro Area facility. Credit: JC Ford