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Atwater Brewery founder Mark Rieth has acquired Velvet Peanut Butter, with a plan to bring the brand’s production back to Detroit, Metro Times reports.
Rieth says he was a fan of the product as a child.
“When I learned of the opportunity to acquire the company, it just felt like something I had to do,” Rieth said in a statement. “There are lots of people like me who remember and loved that distinctive Velvet taste. With some aggressive marketing and prominent space on grocers’ shelves, I’m confident we can return Velvet back to the level of popularity it enjoyed years ago. And we can do here in Detroit, where it all began for the company.”
He said he plans to stick to the original recipe.
Velvet Peanut Butter was established in 1937 by Detroit truck driver Paul Zukerman, who sold the company in 1985 to owners who shut it down. The company was revived by by Eric Bruce in 2008, who has now sold it to Rieth, , according to Lee DeVito of Metro Times,
Rieth, who founded Detroit’s Atwater Brewery in 1997, sold it to Molson Coors in 2022. He has since acquired Lansing Brewing Company and has founded other beverage-related business ventures, Metro Times reports.