Spartan Foods Buys Mystic Pizza Spartanburg, S.C.-based Spartan Foods of America, producer of Mama Mary’s pizza crusts, has purchased Mystic Pizza Food Company, Inc., Mystic, Conn. “We’ve been following the progress of Mystic’s products for a long time and have been impressed with the company’s growth. This acquisition opens up a new, exciting chapter for Spartan Foods of America and the Mystic Pizza brand,” says Tom Baliker, president and founder of Spartan Foods of America. Mystic Pizza was founded in 1973 as a family-owned pizza parlor, and grew with distribution to New England supermarkets. The acquisition makes Mystic Pizza a wholly owned subsidiary of Spartan Foods of America and sets the stage for national distribution. The deal puts Spartan Foods, which carved out a niche in refrigerated pizza crusts, into the frozen food business as well. “Spartan Foods of America has many resources to bring Mystic Pizza into new markets. They can take Mystic Pizza to a new level and make it a national brand,” says Curt Fowler, National Sales Manager for Mystic Pizza. Spartan Foods says it plans to double sales of Mystic Pizza products over the next few years. The original Mystic Pizza restaurant gained national recognition when the movie Mystic Pizza, starring Julia Roberts, hit theaters in 1988. By that time, the pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut had expanded into a successful frozen food company as well.