Dive Brief:
- Campbell Soup Co. is set to acquire Garden Fresh Gourmet Inc. for $231 million, a deal the company expects to complete in a few weeks.
- "We follow consumer trends which are pointing us in the direction of fresh food, organic food," CEO Denise Morrison told the Wall Street Journal.
- In turn, Garden Fresh will now enjoy a national level of distribution thanks to Campbell's backing.
Dive Insight:
Campbell has been one of several major food companies hardest hit by consumers' changing preferences for more fresh, less prepared foods, which has alienated some of Campbell's flagship brands. This acquisition signals another addition to Campbell's push in this direction.
The company is also seeing cost-cutting measures, akin to strategies employed by many other major food companies, and is invoking at a zero-based budgeting approach a la 3G Capital. It resides at No. 342 on this year's Fortune 500 list.