February's Lunch Box

We have a packed newsletter this month, particularly on the acquisitions front.

Let’s get to it!

REAL ESTATE HIGHLIGHTS

Oregon-based Alpine-Food Distributing has fully leased the 116,766 square foot Bandini Industrial Center located at 4651 Bandini Blvd, Los Angeles, CA. (source: Me!)

As part of its U.S. expansion, Hong Da Ma Foods, a Taiwanese-based beverage company, has leased 150,000 square feet at 1021 N Todd Ave, Azusa, CA. (source: Me!)

Atomo Coffee, a Seattle-based coffee company, is opening its newest facility to scale its upcycled coffee grounds formulated from date pits. The 33,547-square-foot plant will enable the company to produce approximately 4 million lbs of coffee grounds a year. Prior to this facility, Atomo was working out of a lab where it was producing approximately 1 lb of coffee a day. (source: CoffeeTalk Magazine)

FlavorSum completed construction and opened a 35,000-square-foot expansion at its Kalamazoo, Michigan, facility. The $10 million increased footprint enhances the site's emulsion, extraction, and warehousing capacity and includes investment in process automation to increase efficiency, quality, and safety. (source: Dairy Foods)

Sucro Limited, an integrated sugar company, announced plans to construct a new cane sugar refinery in the Greater Chicago Area to address the growing and underserved U.S. sugar market. Start-up and initial production are expected in 2026. The location represents the most inland cane sugar refinery in the U.S., with the capability to serve food processors and manufacturers in the Midwest with a more efficient supply of refined cane sugar and specialty sugars. (source: Sugar Producer)  

NOTABLE FUNDINGS & ACQUISITIONS 

Mezcla, a plant-based protein bar company, raised $4 million in a Series A funding round. The funding round was led by existing investors Dream Ventures and Santatera Capital. Other investors included Federico Muyshondt, CEO of Body Armor, and Steve Platt, CEO of BrightFarms, among others. The company has participated in three funding rounds and has raised $1.1 million in a pre-seed, $2.3 million in a seed, and now $4.1 million in a Series A. The company has raised $7.5 million in total. (source: Forbes )

Trek One Capital has acquired Alter Eco Foods, a manufacturer of organic dark chocolate bars, truffles, granola, and quinoa. Alter Eco distributes its products across the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The company operates a fully carbon-neutral manufacturing process, and its product packaging is recyclable, including compostable truffle wrappers. Financial details of the acquisition have not been disclosed. (source: FoodBev Media)

Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. (BGL) announced the sale of Crest Foods, a provider of dairy stabilizers, contract packaging, and branded and private label dry food manufacturing, to Harwood Private Equity (Harwood), an investor in lower middle market companies. BGL's Food & Beverage, Debt Capital Markets, and Real Estate served as the exclusive financial advisor to Harwood. The specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed. In conjunction with the acquisition, BGL facilitated a sale-leaseback of the affiliated 575,000 square foot contract packaging, distribution, and warehousing facility in Ashton, Illinois, via TPG Angelo Gordon’s Net Lease business. (source: Food Engineering Mag)

Popchip parent Our Home acquired two snack brands from Utz. Under the agreement, affiliates of Our Home have agreed to purchase the Good Health and R.W. Garcia brands, the Lincolnton, North Carolina, and Lititz, Pennsylvania, manufacturing facilities, and certain related assets and assume the company’s Las Vegas facility’s lease and manufacturing operations. The total consideration for the transactions is $182.5 million, subject to customary adjustments. (source: Food Manufacturing)

Skin-on dried fruit processor Rind Snacks has acquired Small Batch Organics. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Small Batch Organics, a manufacturer of granola products, is Rind’s first acquisition since its founding in 2018. The acquisition will enable Rind to take ownership of manufacturing and fulfillment in addition to expanding its product range and product development capabilities, the company said. (source: Food Business News)

Bansk Group, a consumer-focused private investment firm dedicated to building distinctive consumer brands, has acquired premium meat snacks company No Man’s Land Foods. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Based in Enid, Okla., No Man’s Land makes beef jerky and meat sticks for the convenience channel. (source: Food Business News)

Meal kit company Marley Spoon is selling its U.S.-based operations assets to fresh meals producer FreshRealm. The $24 million deal includes three fulfillment and production facilities in California, New Jersey, and Texas. The sale is part of a seven-year strategic partnership between the two companies, whereby FreshRealm will become Marley Spoon’s exclusive manufacturing partner for U.S. operations. (source: Retail Dive)

WHAT I’M CONSUMING (AND ENJOYING!)

🧀 I enjoyed this Food Dive profile on Sargento’s resolve to remain independent and grow into a $2 billion dollar cheese-making company. Fun fact: Sargento invented the vacuum sealing of cheese in plastic.

🚚 Interstate trading in the food and beverage industry may become more complicated in the next few years as a California law banning four food ingredients will go into effect on January 1, 2027, and bills in five other states also deal with ingredient bans.

🤖 Kellanova highlights five tech priorities for 2024. Most of the priorities are pretty obvious. Still, I did find this interesting: "Kellanova is using generative AI to boost customer engagement through personalized recommendations using consumer behavior and preferences, Salmon said. With generative AI guardrails built around data, ethics, and governance, the company can fast-track progress as the technology evolves, thus enabling Kellanova to revisit traditional AI investments and drive more scale to deliver growth." I may have just saved you a click.

🥗 The vegan flavor market is poised for a growth surge in 2024, according to a recent report from Fact.MR. Unlike traditional flavors, which are sometimes sourced from animal derivatives, certified plant-based flavors come from fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices. The global annual vegan flavor market is expected to reach $112.5 million in 2024, reaching $183.3 million by 2034 at a compound annual growth rate of 5.2%, the report said. FoodDive has other report takeaways here.

🍫 Per kilometer, coffee and chocolate are among the worst emitters of greenhouse gasses of all food products. Voyager Foods is trying to tackle the chocolate part by making chocolate cocoa-free.

Was this email forwarded to you? Like what you see?

Thanks for reading.

As always, if you have feedback or suggestions, we’d love to hear them.

Until next time!

Erik Stiebel
Founder and Vice President
CA DRE License #02080746
(c) +1 424.241.4795
[email protected]