Dive Brief:
- Coca-Cola Co. and Goldman Sach's merchant banking segment minority stake in Suja is official, reports BevNet in an exclusive interview. The deal translates to $90 million for 30% of the company.
- Suja will join Coke's Odwalla juices and gain backing for a new manufacturing facility in San Diego. This Odwalla access means a likely 50% distribution increase within the next year.
- "To achieve our mission, we need to have a price point below $4 in our minds," Suja's CEO Jeff Church said. "Our main goal is to keep the gap between conventional premium juices and organic HPP juices at a minimum." He also said, "With Odwalla, I believe the products are really complementary."
Dive Insight:
This marks a potential lucrative move for Coke to capitalize on declining soda earnings.
For Suja — as with a bevy of companies which are acquired — independence is critical.
"We have complete control over our business," Church said. "That’s important to me and to the team; we've all seen the times when a big company swallows up a small company and the mission of the small company gets lost."
As for a full-on acquisition, Church and Coke were mum, though it's anticipated Coke could have an option to buy it in a few years.