Legacy Bakehouse, a portfolio company of Benford Capital, has expanded with the acquisition of Mannon Specialty Foods (DBA Classic Cookie). Benford Capital acquired Legacy Bakehouse in partnership with the company’s president, Peter Sardina, in April 2023.
Legacy Bakehouse is a developer and manufacturer of baked snack ingredients, including bagel chips, rye chips, pita chips, and other ingredients. The company’s branded, custom, and private label products are sold to numerous consumer packaged goods companies and retail customers.
Legacy’s company-owned brands include its Pinahs brand of rye chips and snack mixes, featuring bread sticks and crumbs, bagel chips, pita chips, croutons, and flour tortillas. Founded in 1917, the company operates from a 59,000-square-foot facility located west of Milwaukee in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and a 42,000-square-foot facility south of Milwaukee in Cudahy, Wisconsin. Legacy’s Cudahy-based facility was acquired in July 2024 through the purchase of the assets of Angelic Bakehouse for $5.5 million from Lancaster Colony Corp.
Classic Cookie specializes in the production of premium cookie products, including a variety of classic soft-baked cookies and brownies. The company’s products are sold to retail consumers, fundraising groups, vending services, and private-label partners, and are distributed through major national retailers like Walmart, regional retail chains, and fundraising organizations across the United States.
Founded in 1984, Classic Cookie operates a 50,000-square-foot SQF-certified commercial bakery in Sevierville, Tennessee.
“Classic Cookie is a major step, expanding our baked snacks capabilities, capacity, markets, and customers,” said Alain Vallet-Sandre, the CCO of Legacy Bakehouse. “Adding our contract manufacturing and private label capabilities to Classic Cookie’s strong sales channels, as well as expanding our salty/savory snacking platform to include sweet, rounds out our offerings, increasing Legacy’s attractiveness as a partner to a broader cross-section of customers.”
“Classic Cookie is a strategic acquisition in our evolving baking platform,” said Brian Behm, a principal at Benford Capital Partners. “Classic Cookie’s primary channels, including national retail, vending, contract manufacturing, private label, and fundraising, are complementary to Legacy’s.”
Chicago-based Benford Capital invests in lower middle-market companies with revenues from $5 million to $150 million and EBITDA from $2 million to $15 million. The firm’s sectors of interest include industrial technology, food and consumer products, agricultural products and services, B2B e-commerce, niche manufacturing, value-added distribution, and outsourced business services.
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