PHOENIX- Virgo Publishing announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Northbrook, Ill.-based Food Product Design magazine, the leading publication in the food ingredient and flavors industry. Closing is scheduled for later this week.  Food Product Design operations will remain in the Northbrook office, with Bob Weeks maintaining his role as publisher, Lynn Kuntz continuing in her position as editor, and Michael Leonard as sales manager.  

"Food Product Design will continue to fulfill its mission of delivering practical, use-it-now, take it to the bench editorial to those in the food industry who are involved in developing products for the retail, foodservice and functional food markets," said Bob Weeks, publisher of Food Product Design. "The prospect of bringing Virgo Publishing's capabilities and experience in the areas of trade shows, conferences, information systems and electronic media to bear on the Food Product Design franchise is very exciting.  It will allow us to further solidify Food Product Design's position as the industry's leading product development content and information source while significantly increasing value to both our reader and advertiser audiences. I am truly excited about the future of Food Product Design as a part of the Virgo Publishing family."

Virgo Publishing produces more than 18 business magazine titles and eight trade shows and conferences.  The Health & Nutrition division of Virgo Publishing publishes Natural Products INSIDER and HSR: Health Supplement Retailer magazines and produces the largest event for the nutritional ingredients business, SupplySide.  SupplySide, launched in 1997, produces two shows per year, SupplySide East and SupplySide West. More than 750 booths for nutritional ingredients are on display at SupplySide West, making it the largest show in the world for the supplement ingredient industry. 

"Acquiring Food Product Design is an important part of our plan to expand our reach beyond serving the supplement ingredient market into the food ingredient side of the business," said Jenny Bolton, president of Virgo Publishing. "We currently have a growing readership and attendee base from the food ingredient business, and this merger will allow us to expand more quickly into the food segment of the market. As consumers continue to seek foods with healthy and functional ingredients, the aligning of business media covering supplement ingredients and food ingredients is natural. This acquisition positions us perfectly to take advantage of the growth both these markets will enjoy in the future."

Food Product Design will become part of the Health & Nutrition division of Virgo Publishing under the leadership of Peggy Jackson, director of publishing. Jackson stated, "We are ecstatic to join forces with the Food Product Design team. The synergy of our two groups uniting will bring great value to all of our readers, advertisers and industries. This will make our already successful magazines, events and communications services even better."

Virgo Publishing, founded in 1986, is based in Phoenix, and produces leading business-to-business titles and trade shows/conferences in the telecom, medical, health, lifestyle and light industrial industries. Virgo Publishing, a diversified business media company, employs more than 130 talented individuals.

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Contact: Amy Sharman, Marketing and Communications Manager
480-990-1101, ext. 1543
asharman@vpico.com