Mar 30, 2004 12:09 PM, from staff and wire reports

Kraft Foods Inc, the Chicago IL area-based branded food and beverage giant, has closed on its purchase of Veryfine Products Inc, a privately held beverage manufacturer. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Veryfine, based in Littleton MA, was established in 1865 and has been owned by the Rowse family since 1900. In 2003, it posted net sales of more than $150 million.

As part of the sale, Kraft will acquire Veryfine's 350,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Littleton, its 20,400-sq-ft manufacturing plant in Berlin NH, and its 216,000-sq-ft distribution center in Ayer MA. The Veryfine business will be managed from Kraft's management center in Tarrytown NY, and the company will continue to operate manufacturing and distribution facilities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.