Tattooed Chef acquires two new manufacturing facilities targeting $1bn frozen Mexican food category

03-May-2021 - Last updated on 03-May-2021 at 15:53 GMT

Photo Credit: Tattoed Chef

Tattooed Chef has entered into agreements to acquire New Mexico Food Distributors, Inc. and Karsten Tortilla Factory, LLC (collectively referred to as “Foods of New Mexico”) for approximately $35m to ramp up production of its plant-based frozen foods offerings.

Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Foods of New Mexico is a prepared food company that produces ready-to-eat Mexican food items for retail and foodservice. The acquisition of Foods of New Mexico's two facilities (totaling 118,000 square feet of combined production space) will allow Tattooed Chef to expand its tortilla manufacturing capabilities.

"We have seen tremendous growth in the Tattooed Chef brand and these two facilities will allow us to diversify our product lines and significantly increase our manufacturing capabilities to capitalize on the $20bn Hispanic/Southwest Food sector and beyond," Sam Galletti, president and CEO of Tattooed Chef.

"We will be immediately addressing the $1bn Frozen Mexican Food category once the transactions close. At full capacity, we believe Foods of New Mexico can contribute up to $200m annually in revenue in the next two to three years and create significant value for all our stakeholders," said Galletti.

Tattooed Chef Chief Creative Officer Sarah Galletti added that the company -- which makes a range of frozen meals including 'Buddha Bowls' and 'Cauliflower Buffalo Burgers' -- sees an opportunity to introduce "nostalgic innovation into the plant-based food space" by leveraging the increased production space and capacity from the acquisition.

"We are confident in creating new products, pushing past our existing product line and into new spaces, and we are comfortable producing food in any category. We have a pipeline of different and innovative ideas we can’t wait to share in the coming months such as alternative tortillas using plant-based ingredients.

"We also plan to introduce innovative meals and snacks, in both frozen and ambient. Get ready, this is an exciting time at Tattooed Chef, and we are just getting started," Sarah Galletti said.

With the acquisition, the company updated its full year 2021 guidance from $235m to $242m in total revenue and gross margin in the range of 20% to 25%, representing an increase of 58% to 63% compared to 2020.