B&G Foods to acquire Back to Nature, SnackWell's for $162.5m
The Florida-based company – which makes products under the Back to Nature and SnackWell's brands –makes cookies, crackers, nuts, granola, and juice with nationwide distribution and generates annual sales of around $80m.
New Jersey-based B&G Foods - which is best known for brands such as Pirate's Booty, Grandma’s Molasses, Ortega and Cream of Wheat - has made a steady stream of acquisitions of unloved brands in recent years, often from larger players unable to give them the attention they deserved.
Speaking during the firm's Q2 earnings call earlier this month, CEO Bob Cantwell said: "As I look back over the past two years, our three most recent acquisitions [pastas and sauces maker Victoria Fine Foods; spices supplier ACH Food Companies; and frozen and canned veg brands Green Giant and Le Sueur] have combined to double the size of B&G Foods, and each one is exceeding our expectations. In particular, spices & seasonings and Victoria have together exceeded our initial expectations by over 20%. The quarter also saw a strong net sales growth and share gains in our Green Giant frozen products, driven by the new innovation items we launched in the fourth quarter of 2016."
He added: "So, while the current consumer environment remains challenging, we believe that, bolstered by our recent acquisitions, there is a significant amount we can do to grow our overall business in both the near and long term. And consistent with our growth strategy, we continue to search for accretive acquisition of on-trend brands."
B&G's net sales for the second quarter of 2017 were up 20.2% year on year to $368.1m.
