Dive Brief:
- Atlantic Natural Foods will acquire Loma Linda Foods and the licensing rights to Worthington Foods brands of vegetarian foods from Kellogg Company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- Atlantic Natural, a private label manufacturer, has been producing Loma Linda and Worthington products on behalf of Kellogg since 2008. Kellogg was responsible for marketing the products, the most well-known of which are shelf-stable meat substitutes sold in cans.
- Also included in the deal is Kaffree Roma, a brand of grain-based beverages that are marketed as an alternative to coffee.
Dive Insight:
There's nothing too surprising about this deal. Kellogg is dumping noncore items that aren't big enough to help offset the drop in cereal sales. And Atlantic is buying brands that it already manufacturers for a customer.
But what is a little unusual is watching the purchasing strategy of AFT Holdings, the investment company that controls Atlantic Natural. AFT is now a major investor in meat and coffee substitutes, the top U.S.-flagged tuna fleet, a Hawaiian restaurant, and a Cost Rican coffee producer.
If there are "synergies" there that will prove advantageous to Loma Linda et al, they are not readily apparent.