Garner-based Butterball, the nation's largest turkey processor, said Wednesday it is expanding into the pork market by buying an Illinois company that specializes in bacon, hams and deli meats.
Butterball's acquisition of Gusto Packing Co. adds about 500 employees to Butterball's workforce of more than 5,000 people in three states.
With the deal, the family-oriented Butterball brand also acquires Gusto's risqué motto: "Eat More Pork, Be A Better Lover."
Butterball spokeswoman Stephanie Llorente said Butterball has no plans to change Gusto's operations. Gusto employees are expected to remain in their current jobs, Butterball said in a release.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Butterball and Gusto are privately-held companies.
Butterball was founded in 1954 and acquired by Carolina Turkey in 2006. The Gusto deal is the first acquisition since then.
John Murawski has been a full-time newspaper reporter since 1991, with stints at Legal Times and The Chronicle of Philanthropy (both in Washington, DC), The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Palm Beach Post (in South Florida) before arriving at the N&O in December 2004. At the N&O he covers energy (nuclear, coal, renewable, efficiency), hydralic fracturing (or "fracking"), public utilities (both electric and natural gas) and health care. His beat includes Progress Energy, PSNC Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, PowerSecure International, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Biogen Idec and others. You can reach him at 919-829-8932 or