RIDGELAND, Miss. — Cal-Maine Foods Inc., the largest egg company in the United States, announces the acquisition of the shell egg, egg products, and prepared foods assets of Creighton Brothers LLC, including Crystal Lake LLC, for a total purchase price of approximately $128.5 million, subject to customary post-closing adjustments. Cal-Maine Foods is funding the acquisition with available cash on hand, the company said in its announcement.
Established in 1925, Creighton Brothers produces, grades, and packages high-quality conventional and specialty shell eggs for retail and foodservice markets. Crystal Lake produces ready-to-use egg products for the foodservice and food manufacturing industries, including liquid, frozen, and hard-cooked eggs, and distributes pre-cooked egg patties, omelets, and scrambled eggs.
Both companies are headquartered in Warsaw, Ind., where Cal-Maine Foods previously had no shell egg operations.
“The acquisition of Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake advances our strategy by expanding the scale and geographic reach of our shell egg platform, across both specialty eggs and conventional eggs, adding meaningful growth to our portfolio,” Sherman Miller, Cal-Maine Foods president and CEO, said. “This incremental capacity strengthens our ability to align production with demand, better positioning us to consistently meet consumer expectations for choice, reliability, and affordability. Together with the Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake team, we will build on the strong foundation already in place — combining our operational excellence, deep customer relationships, supply chain expertise, rigorous capital deployment, and robust systems to accelerate growth and unlock new opportunities.”
“Importantly, with nearby liquid egg capacity, we further our internal sourcing strategy for key egg-based ingredients for our prepared foods business — strengthening supply security, improving margins, and driving greater operational efficiency,” Miller added. “Together, these advantages compound over time and guided by our disciplined, returns-focused approach, drive performance and create sustainable per-share value.”
The acquired assets include commercial shell egg production and grading with capacity of approximately 3.2 million laying hens, including 500,000 cage-free, and 865,000 pullets, a feed mill, 1,007 acres of land, as well as an egg products and hard-cooked egg processing facility.
Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake will be fully integrated into Cal-Maine Foods’ existing operations, including its 177 employees.
“We are proud to welcome this exceptional team to the Cal-Maine Foods family,” Miller said. “Their high-quality operations reflect remarkable dedication and capability, and we look forward to achieving even greater success together.”
“With mixed personal emotions and great pride, I’m excited to see the legacy of Hobart and Russell Creighton and their families continue and grow with a new family at Cal-Maine,” Mindy Truex, Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake, president, said. “I believe our dedication to excellence and doing things right will mesh well and provide an example to follow for another 100 years.”
