PepsiCo, Inc. today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Bare Foods Co. (doing business as Bare Snacks), a U.S.-based maker of baked fruit and vegetable snacks.
The transaction will expand the company’s snacking portfolio and further deliver on its Performance with Purpose vision to offer consumers more positive nutrition options.
“For nearly a dozen years, PepsiCo has been committed to Performance with Purpose, our vision of making more nutritious products, while also reducing added sugars, salt, and saturated fat. Bare Snacks fits perfectly within that vision,” said Indra Nooyi, chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo. “The Bare Snacks leadership team has done an outstanding job building a top-tier organization and a strong brand with authentic roots, and I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Bare Snacks to the PepsiCo family.”
Bare Snacks was founded in 2001 by a family-owned organic apple farm in Washington, that began selling packaged baked apple chips in local farmers’ markets. Under its current leadership team, it has expanded steadily to become the leader in apple, banana and coconut snacks. It has recently expanded into vegetable chips and offers the industry’s broadest assortment of baked crunchy fruit and vegetable chips. Bare products are made from simple ingredients that are baked, not fried. They are Non GMO Project verified, feature clean labels and are sold online and in natural and conventional retail channels across the United States.
“We are thrilled to work with the PepsiCo team to further our mission of bringing simplicity to snacking,” said Santosh Padki, CEO of Bare Foods. “With a shared passion for crunchy, better-for-you snacks, PepsiCo is the right partner to help bring our simply baked fruit and vegetable snacks to even more consumers across the world and continue to grow our brand.”
Upon closing, Bare Snacks will continue to operate independently from its headquarters in San Francisco with its leadership reporting into Frito-Lay North America, a division of PepsiCo.
“Bare premium baked fruit and vegetable chips are an exciting expansion of Frito-Lay’s better-for-you snack offerings,” said Vivek Sankaran, president and chief operating officer for Frito-Lay North America. “While we will continue to offer the current Bare Snacks product line, we look forward to working with the Bare Snacks team to deliver new, innovative options, and ultimately expanded distribution, to meet the ever-growing consumer demands for authentic and nutritious snacks.”
Source: PepsiCo
Ferrero North America has opened its new Kinder Bueno production facility in Bloomington, Illinois, US. The expansion, which is the result of a $214 million investment, was first announced in November 2022 and has created around 200 new jobs and is set to drive Ferrero’s market expansion.
Chiquita Brands – in collaboration with KeyGene, MusaRadix and Wageningen University and Research – has unveiled a new banana hybrid named ‘Yelloway One’. This variety is engineered to resist Tropical Race 4 (TR4) and show partial resistance to Black Sigatoka, two fungal diseases that pose severe threats to global banana production.
PepsiCo is planning to acquire packaged food business Siete Foods in a US$1.2 billion deal to “bring a rich, new aspect” to its portfolio. The move will add Mexican-American foods like tortillas, salsas, seasonings, sauces, cookies and snacks to PepsiCo’s range of products.
