Inventure saw strong sales in its Boulder Canyon brand.

PHOENIX — Company efforts to drive improvement across key areas led to better sales for the Boulder Canyon, Jamba and Rader Farms brands at Inventure Foods, Inc. during the third quarter of fiscal 2016.

Despite the improvements, the company’s loss widened during the third quarter ended Sept. 24, falling to $2,564,000 from $1,737,000 in the same period a year ago. Revenues also were lower, slipping to $66,529,000 from $69,865,000.

Terry McDaniel, c.e.o. of Inventure Foods

“Although our business continued to face certain challenges, our efforts to drive improvement across key areas of our business resulted in increased revenues for our Boulder Canyon, Jamba and Rader Farms brands,” said Terry McDaniel, chief executive officer. “Additionally, we achieved margin expansion of approximately 300 basis points in the Snack Products segment, as a result of the strategic investments we made to increase kettle capacity at our Bluffton, Ind., facility to meet strong consumer demand.”

Net revenues in the company’s Snack Products segment fell nearly 3% in the third quarter to $28.6 million, driven by a decline in production of products for third parties and increased trade promotional investments to support future growth, partially offset by increased sales of Boulder Canyon. Gross profit in the segment moved up to $5.1 million from $4.3 million a year ago, primarily due to increased capacity eliminating the need for co-packers used in the prior year to supplement production. Inventure said the increased capacity also allowed for improved efficiency and overhead absorption.

Jamba products experienced increased revenues.

In the Frozen Products segment net revenues decreased 6% to $37.9 million, which compared with $40.5 million in the same period a year ago. Gross profit was $2.9 million, down from $4.4 million in the prior year period.

“Our management team continues to evaluate opportunities for growth, increased productivity, operational improvements, and in turn profitability expansion,” Mr. McDaniel said. “Our team remains focused on expanding distribution of our frozen and snack product portfolios to drive sales, strengthen our business and drive long-term value creation for our shareholders.”

Inventure's efforts to drive improvement across key areas led to better sales for its Rader Farms brand.

Overall, for the nine months ended Sept. 24 Inventure sustained a loss of $3,860,000, which compared with a loss of $18,323,000 in the same period a year ago. Net revenues for the nine months totaled $205,647,000, down from $213,894,000.