Nathan's Famous introduces new snack-food line

Jericho-based hot dog maker Nathan's Famous Inc. is expanding the range of its retail products with a new line of bagged snacks to be sold at grocery and convenience stores and in vending machines.

The company's stock, which closed at $18.96 Thursday, was unchanged in pre-market trading Friday. Nathan's share price is up 12.52 percent for the year.

Nathan's Famous began as a single restaurant in Coney Island, Brooklyn, in 1916, and now sells its products in more than 40,000 stores and restaurants internationally.

The new line of snacks will be made and marketed by a licensee, Inventure Foods, and will "replicate the tastes found within Nathan's popular restaurant menu," the company said in a Thursday news release.

Snacks under the Nathan's brand will include cheddar cheese, chili cheese and honey mustard flavored Crunchy Crinkle Fries, in 2-ounce and 3.5-ounce bags with retail prices ranging from $1.99 to $2.19. There also will be a Nathan's crinkle cut potato chip available in a single serve 1.25 ounce size that will retail from $.99 to $1.29.

In August Nathan's said the high cost of beef had put a drag on quarterly profits even with the growth of its international chain of hot-dog restaurants, with new outlets in Kuwait, China, Canada and the Dominican Republic.

It reported $1.59 million net income on $17.89 million in sales for the quarter ended June 26, compared to $1.66 million income on $15.62 million sales in the year-ago quarter.

Fourteen new franchised units were opened during the quarter, Nathan's said. It opened its first restaurant in Alberta, Canada; its third restaurant in Beijing, China; its fourth in the Dominican Republic; and its 15th in Kuwait.