Nutroganics signs letter of intent to acquire soy yogurt maker WholeSoy

UPDATED: Nutroganics - which is building a portfolio of businesses in the health & wellness space - has signed a letter of intent to acquire certain assets of organic soy yogurt maker WholeSoy & Co. 

WholeSoy has been steadily rebuilding its distribution after temporarily coming off the market last year when its co-packer abruptly shut down its facility.

After failing to find a suitable replacement, WholeSoy opted to make the products in-house, expanding its soybase production plant in Modesto, CA, to become a fully-fledged non-dairy yogurt production and packing plant earlier this year.

The San Francisco-based firm, which sells its organic and non-GMO Project verified desserts to leading natural foods retailers including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Wegmans and PCC Natural Markets, generates approximately $7m in annualized revenues.

The terms of the deal - which is subject to several conditions, including working out suitable terms with Wholesoy's vendors and creditors - have not been disclosed.

Wholesoy-factory-Modesto.jpg
To make the cultured soy yogurts, soybeans are ground and cooked using filtered water, heat, and decanting (removal of the fiber). They are then blended with starch and sugar, homogenized, pasteurized and cooled before being fermented by live vegan cultures. Vanilla or cooked fruit is then added.

Nutroganics CEO David Sackler told FoodNavigator-USA on Monday that the two parties were still in the due diligence stage but said he was encouraged by the level of consumer loyalty for the WholeSoy brand and the fact that bosses had managed to "get the majority of their shelf space back" after a protracted period off shelves.

He added: "Soy has had its issues, but I think they are cyclical as soy has so much going for it and a lot of the concerns people have about soy are not based on good science. I'm really excited about this opportunity."

WholeSoy declined to comment on how well its soy-based products were performing as more consumers look to coconut- and almond-based dairy-free products. Its main competitor in the soy chilled desserts space is Silk fruity & creamy.

Click HERE to read more about Bethesda, Maryland-based Nutroganics, which owns Silverbow Honey Company, a producer and packager of honey products based in Moses Lake, Washington; and NuStar Manufacturing, a Utah-based packager of nutritional products and supplements.