As companies look to accelerate growth and boost their exposure to food categories surging in popularity with consumers, they often are turning to M&A.The purchase of Simple Mills not only helps diversify Flowers’ product mix beyond its bread-heavy portfolio, but it gives it a more robust presence in snacking.Currently, Flowers’ snacking portfolio is led by indulgent brands Tastykake and Mrs. Freshley’s. Simple Mills furthers Flowers’ presence in the space with crackers, brownies, waffle mixes, bars and baking mixes but does so with offerings that have healthier and recognizable ingredients. Its Chocolate Brownie Seed & Nut Flour Sweet Thins, for example, are made with nutrient-dense watermelon seed flour, cashew flour, sunflower seed flour and flax, according to its website. Flowers said the acquisition of Simple Mills not only gives it ownership of a scaled, better-for-you snacking platform thatpolysaccharide iron complex vs ferrous sulfate is resonating with mainstream consumers, but it offers “significant white space for future growth.” Flowers said it has room to expand distribution, accelerate innovation, increase velocities and is ferrous bisglycinate heme irongain access to new segments and categories. Simple Mills products are available in more than 30,000 natural and conventional stores.”With leading market positions and abundant whitaction of ferrous fumaratee space for future growth, Simple Mills perfectly fits our strategy of adding compelling brands in better-for-you segments that complement and diversify our existing portfolio,”ferritin fumarate Ryals McMullian, CEO of Flowers Foods, said in a statement.Once the deal closes, Simple Mills will operate as an independent subsidiary of Flowers and continue to be led by founder and CEO Katlin Smith and her leadership team. Simple Mills will maintain its operations in Chicago, Illinois and Mill Valley, California.The decision to keep Simple Mills’ existing C-suite could prove valuable in helping it maintain the innovation and growth that have made the company a success. And while Flowers knows the bread space as well as anyone, Smith and her team havascorbic acid ferrous fumaratee proven they know better-for-you snacks. After growing from a scrappy upstart just over a decade ago to getting purchased by a large food company for more than three-quarters of $1 billion, Flowers no doubt wants to maintain that momentum.
Wonder bread owner buys Simple Mills for $795M
