Mesa produces private label flour and corn tortillas, flatbreads, tacos shells, taco kits and pre-cut uncooked tortilla chips for customers including restaurants and grocery stores. Its Louisville production plant can produce eight to 10 million tortillas a day.
Formed in 1984 as a private business, Mesa was acquired by Casa de Oro Foods – a ConAgra Company – in 1998. It operated under the name Casa de Oro Foods LLC until being sold in 2008, when it began operating under the name Mesa Foods again.
Mesa will operate as a division of Teasdale Foods with the existing management team continuing with the business.
Hispanic foods category
Teasdale said the acquisition of Mesa would enhance its national presence in the Hispanic foods category. Teasdale supplies branded and private label beans, hominy (whole corn kernels soaked in a lye or lime solution to soften the tough outer hulls), salsa and hot sauces to the retail, food service and wholesale channels. Its brands include Teasdale, Casa Fiesta, Viva Mexico, Mexene, DL Jardine's, 7J and Sontava!.
Being able to offer tortillas, taco shells and flatbreads made the business a “one-stop shop” for Hispanic-inspired food across the country, said Teasdale.
"Mesa rounds out Teasdale's product offering and will allow us to drive further growth by providing customers with best in class products, service, innovation and market insights,” added Peter Shea, chairman of Teasdale and operating partner at private equity firm Snow Phipps Group, majority owner in Teasdale.
Previous Teasdale acquisitions
Mesa is the third acquisition made by Teasdale in partnership with Snow Phipps since Teasdale was acquired in October 2014. The previous acquisitions were natural and organic sauces manufacturer Jardine's Foods; and beans, peppers, sauces, corn products and seasonings supplier Casa Fiesta.
Snow Phipps said the Mesa deal continued its strategy of building an Hispanic foods platform across a range of products, customers, channels and geographies.
“We are proud of the unique consolidation platform we have built and are excited about the prospects for acquiring more businesses focused on this attractive segment,” added Snow Phipps consumer investing head Sundip Murthy.