snack food

Sonoma Brands has acquired KRAVE Pure Foods from Amplify Snack Brands, a business unit of The Hershey Company.

KRAVE Pure Foods is a producer of gourmet meat, poultry, and plant-based protein snacks. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Sonoma Brands invests in high-growth consumer brands. The firm was founded in 2016 by Managing Partner Jon Sebastiani and is headquartered in Sonoma, California. Prior to founding Sonoma Brands, Mr. Sebastiani was the founder and CEO of KRAVE until its sale to The Hershey Company in 2015.

“I have always had a great relationship with The Hershey Company and watched them grow KRAVE,” said Mr. Sebastiani. “From expanding KRAVE’s product offerings to dipping into the plant-based category and increasing worldwide distribution, KRAVE is in a great spot to come back home to Sonoma where we can continue the brand’s fantastic momentum as a category leader.”

“KRAVE is a great brand with a loyal fanbase who appreciate its innovative gourmet flavors and culinary roots tracing back to its origins in Sonoma, California,” said Hector de la Barreda, the president of Amplify Snack Brands. “We look forward to its success with a different go-to-market model under the guidance of founder Jon Sebastiani.”

Amplify Snack Brands is a “better-for-you” snack brand company based in Austin, Texas. Company-owned brands include SkinnyPop, Paqui, Oatmega, KRAVE, and Pirate’s Booty. The company went public in 2015 and was acquired by Hershey in December 2017 for $1.6 billion.

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world and it also produces a multitude of candy, baked products, syrups, and beverages. The Hershey Company was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

© 2020 Private Equity Professional | May 5, 2020

Wind Point Partners has acquired Evans Food Group, a maker of branded and private label pork rind snacks. Wind Point partnered with Jose Luis Prado who becomes the Chairman and CEO of the company. Alejandro Silva, Evans’ co-founder and chairman, will serve on the Board of Directors of Evans.

Evans Food Group (Evans) is a producer of branded and private label finished pork rinds and pork rind pellets. Pork rind is the skin (rind) of a pig. When fried or roasted, the pork rinds are sold as a snack food. Evans was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Chicago with five production facilities in Chicago, IL; Arlington, TX; Portsmouth, OH; Ontario, CA; and Saltillo, Mexico (www.evansfood.com).

Sales of pork rinds are growing at more than 15% per year. The product is higher in protein than other crunchy snack foods and are a good “high-protein, low-carbohydrate” alternative.  They are also a favorite snack food of the Hispanic demographic.

Mr. Prado has 30 years of experience in the snacks industry with PepsiCo. Most recently he was the President of Quaker Oats North America. Earlier, he was the president and CEO of Grupo Gamesa-Quaker in Mexico and he also held senior positions in sales, finance and general management at PepsiCo in Latin America and Europe. “I believe that Evans’ preferred products, advantaged manufacturing footprint, solid portfolio of national and regional brands, great team and partnership with Wind Point will enable us to pursue a wide array of domestic and international opportunities,” said Mr. Prado.

“Wind Point’s partnership with Jose Luis – a top caliber global executive in the food industry – along with our proven track record and depth of experience in food investments, creates an excellent opportunity to drive continued growth at Evans,” said Mark Burgett, a managing director at Wind Point.

Wind Point invests from $20 million to $70 million of equity in companies with revenues from $100 million to $500 million and EBITDAs of at least $8 million. Industries of interest include business services, consumer products, healthcare and industrial products. The firm has approximately $3 billion in capital under management.  Wind Point’s most recent food investments include Gehl Foods (acquired in March 2015), Shearer’s (sold to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in January 2015), and Hearthside Foods (sold to Goldman Sachs and Vestar Capital in June 2014). Wind Point Partners was founded in 1984 and is based in Chicago (www.wppartners.com).

Financing for the acquisition of Evans was led by BMO Harris Bank (www.bmoharris.com) and Antares Capital (www.antares.com). DLA Piper (www.dlapiper.com) provided legal services to Wind Point.

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 4-12-16