Baking & Snack - August 2022 - 56

As the previous vice
president of mergers
and acquisitions of
Flowers Foods, A.
Ryals McMullian
was instrumental in
the acquisition of
Dave's Killer Bread.
Flowers Foods
(a New York-based private equity firm that had taken a
stake in the business in 2012) and members of the Dahl
family - Dave, his older brother Glenn and his nephew
Shobi. Mr. McMullian contacted Goode Partners to explore
their interest in a transaction.
Eventually a meeting was set up in New York between
Flowers management and the Goode Partners team. The
meeting, which Mr. McMullian described as memorable,
included Mr. Shiver, R. Steve Kinsey, chief financial
officer, and Bradley K. Alexander, COO.
" I remember that we had a really good initial meeting
where we expressed our keen interest in the brand, "
Mr. McMullian said. " I also distinctly remember that
after the meeting we were walking down a street in
Manhattan and Allen said, 'This is going to be really
expensive, isn't it?' And I said, 'Yeah, it is going to be
expensive.' But I said, 'Allen, it's going to be a whole lot
more expensive if you don't do it.' And boy, did that turn
out to be true.
" It's been an incredible story. We really caught lightning
in a bottle. "
A key to the rapid success of Dave's Killer Bread under
Flowers' ownership was expanding distribution beyond
the West Coast and club stores. Before Flowers bought
the company, Dave's was being distributed on the West
Coast via third-party distributors and also delivered
frozen to Costco around the country. In addition, aside
from the original Dave's Killer Bread plant in Milwaukie,
Ore., the products were produced by a network of comanufacturers.
Mr. McMullian said Flowers' plan was to
expand distribution on its network of independent distributors
and to start migrating production away from
co-packers and into Flowers' bakeries.
56 Baking & Snack August 2022 / www.bakingbusiness.com
Culturally, the two companies initially appeared to
be very different, and a successful integration was no
foregone conclusion. But Flowers was intentional about
allowing Dave's to maintain its own identity and independence,
and Mr. McMullian said over time the personalities
of the two companies have matched up well.
Ultimately, though, Mr. McMullian believes the brand's
success goes beyond what Flowers or any other potential
acquirer could have brought to the table.
" IT'S BEEN AN INCREDIBLE
STORY. WE REALLY CAUGHT
LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE. "
A. Ryals McMullian, Flowers Foods
He explained, " Why has it been so successful?
Certainly, our execution has been solid. We've been able
to successfully expand distribution and consequently
awareness and penetration of the brand. And we've also
brought most of the production in house. We've now
converted two of our older bakeries into DKB bakeries,
and now we produce all of the loaf varieties ourselves,
though we still utilize a partner for some of the breakfast
items.
" Beyond that, the success of Dave's boils down to a
couple things. The first is quality. I can't tell you how
many people say to me that it's the best bread they've
ever tried and now it's all they buy. The second is the
unique brand story, which I think really resonates with
consumers. Dave's is fun, slightly edgy but also really
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