DATE: Wednesday, April 9, 1997              TAG: 9704090629
SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   40 lines

APPLETREE FILES FOR BANKRUPCTYCHAPTER 11 FILING ALLOWS SANDWICH PRODUCER, DISTRIBUTOR TO CONTINUE OPERATING

The AppleTree Companies Inc., a sandwich producer and distributor that bought the assets of bankrupt Stewart Foods Inc. three years ago, has sought protection from its creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Norfolk.

In a Chapter 11 filing, AppleTree said its assets amounted to $5.87 million and liabilities $5.83 million.

Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code allows a company to continue operating while it attempts to restructure its debts under court supervision.

AppleTree, which also does business under the name America's Foods Inc., moved its headquarters to Norfolk from Boca Raton, Fla., last August.

In the bankruptcy filing, AppleTree listed 858 creditors. Many are food processors and distribution companies based elsewhere. The largest claim listed was for $1.04 million owed to Ryder Truck Rental Inc. in Miami, Fla.

AppleTree officers and its bankruptcy attorney could not be reached Tuesday for details on the company's financial condition or its reorganization plans.

In February, AppleTree said that it had closed a production facility in Salt Lake City and had halted some services in western and southwestern states. The company also said it was consolidating certain store-delivery routes and eliminating unprofitable ones.

AppleTree also disclosed in February that it had resolved an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission without having to pay any penalties. The SEC investigation involved the use of $250,000 from AppleTree's initial public offering of stock in 1992.

AppleTree bought the operating assets of Norfolk-based Stewart Foods in late 1993 for $3.5 million. These included 3,200 retail accounts in Virginia and the Carolinas and a 66,000-square-foot warehouse, office and manufacturing facility on Curlew Drive in Norfolk.

Organized in 1956, Stewart had been a successful sandwich producer and distributor until the early 1980s. Despite attempts to revamp its operations and broaden its mix of products, the company ended up seeking court protection from creditors in 1992.

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