Baking & Snack - October 2015 - 14

Flowers builds organic portfolio with Alpine Valley
Flowers Foods, Thomasville, GA, entered into an agreement to acquire Alpine Valley Bread, Mesa, AZ, for approximately $120 million. Alpine Valley is a baker of bread that is natural, organic and
Non-GMO Project Verified. The company operates two bakeries
in Mesa and employs 282.
In August, Flowers Foods entered into an agreement to acquire
Dave's Killer Bread for approximately $275 million in cash. Dave's
Killer Bread is considered to be the largest organic bread company
in the US. That acquisition was finalized in September.
Alpine Valley Bread was founded in 1995 with the opening of

a bakery in a strip mall in Mesa. By 1996, the company's bread
products were being sold in grocery stores. As demand increased,
Swiss Oven Bakery joined the Alpine Valley Bread group in 2003.
Alpine Valley is expected to generate $85 million to $95 million
in sales during fiscal 2016. Flowers Foods plans to fund approximately 90% of the purchase price for the acquisition using its existing revolving credit facility and available cash and approximately
10% with Flowers Foods common stock. The company anticipates
the transaction will be neutral to fiscal 2015 earnings.
- Keith Nunes, Food Business News

Hearthside expands footprint in bar category
Hearthside Food Solutions made two acquisitions designed to expand the company's presence in the Americas and Europe. First,
the Downers Grove, IL-based company acquired VSI, Leerdam,
The Netherlands, from NPM Capital. VSI is the largest European
producer of nutrition, diet and functional bars. In a separate agreement, Hearthside purchased the former PowerBar production facility in Boise, ID, from a subsidiary of Post Holdings, Inc.
Hearthside said the two transactions will enable the rapid scaling of VSI's formulations, R&D, product development, and fullscale production in the Americas.

Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed. Both
transactions were expected to close in September.
In acquiring VSI, Hearthside will add three European manufacturing facilities to a portfolio that already includes 19 US-based
facilities. Hearthside Food Solutions is the nation's largest and
fastest-growing independent bakery and a full-service contract
manufacturer of grain-based food and snack products for many
of the world's leading brands. Hearthside offers a diverse product

portfolio focused on four main platform categories: bars, cookies/
crackers, granola/cereals and snacks. The company manufactures
more than 150 brands and 1,400 SKUs for its top customers.
Hearthside was acquired by Goldman Sachs, a global investment
banking, securities and investment management firm, and Vestar
Capital Partners, a private equity firm, in March 2014.
"This is both a category and geographic expansion, putting
Hearthside into the three fastest-growing bar categories as well as in
the European market, where VSI is a leader," said Rich Scalise, founder
and chairman of Hearthside.
"The R&D and production expertise of VSI in the fast-growth categories of nutrition, diet and functional bars enables Hearthside to
take a quantum leap forward, providing our customers with the most
complete offerings in the industry," Mr. Scalise said.
VSI operates three plants with annual production capacity of 260
million bars.
Meanwhile, the acquisition of a recently idled nutritional supplement bar production facility in Boise will enable Hearthside
to quickly produce nutrition, diet and functional bars in the
Americas. Post closed the former PowerBar plant earlier this year.
"It takes two years from greenfield to operational bar plant,"
said Dwayne Hughes, senior vice-president of supply chain for
Hearthside. "We wanted VSI capacity in the North American mix
more quickly. This facility is ready to go today. The timing, location and state-of-the-art equipment provide a perfect solution that
makes us competitive in more bar categories immediately."
- Eric Schroeder, Milling & Baking News

ASB brings back popular product contest
Building upon the success of its inaugural year, the Product
Development Competition is returning to the American Society
of Baking (ASB)'s Annual BakingTech Conference with slightly
revised rules and a new theme. The category for 2016 is "Breakfast
Bakery Products." Entries should contain at least 51% grains or
grain-based flour in the total formulation and exhibit room temperature stability for three days.
ASB introduced the competition last year as a way to facilitate

14 Baking & Snack October 2015 / www.bakingandsnack.com

innovation in the wholesale baking industry. The winning student team will receive $2,000 while the winning professional will
receive $750.
Judges will evaluate the potential success of entries in today's
market and technical problem solving skills used in product development. The deadline for preliminary proposals is Nov. 13.
Finalists will be announced Dec. 11. The complete rules and application forms can be found at www.asbe.org/pdc-main.

http://www.asbe.org/pdc-main http://www.bakingandsnack.com

Baking & Snack - October 2015

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