Conagra Builds Up Better-For-You Snack Portfolio
CHICAGO — Conagra Brands Inc. is beefing up its better-for-you snacking portfolio with the acquisition of Sweetwood Smoke & Co., maker of FATTY Smoked Meat Sticks.
The deal was announced on Aug. 9. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The acquisition of FATTY Smoked Meat Sticks is another step in reshaping our portfolio for faster growth," said Sean Connolly, president and CEO of Conagra Brands. "Adding a premium brand such as FATTY to our growing, better-for-you snack portfolio is consistent with our strategic focus on the snacking and frozen categories."
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Conagra is known for brands such as Birds Eye, Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice, Marie Callender's, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim and Angie's Boomchickapop.
Founded by Ryan Wood, cofounder of Under Armour, Sweetwood Smoke & Co. introduced FATTY Smoked Meat Sticks in 2010 to address the challenge of finding high-quality protein snacks. FATTY is an authentic, provocative, attention-grabbing, lifestyle brand that drives trial on shelf, conversion and loyal, and highly valuable users with high purchase frequency, the company stated.
"As a lifelong athlete and adventure enthusiast, I have always valued convenient, high-protein snacks, made with quality ingredients, which is why we created FATTY," said Wood, CEO of Sweetwood Smoke & Co. "I'm looking forward to working with Conagra to make FATTY products available to more people with big appetites for meat sticks."
In 2024, FATTY was named to the Bain & Co. Insurgent Brand list, recognizing it as one of the fastest growing meat stick brands in the country.
Conagra has been building up its portfolio of brands over the past few years. In 2017, the company purchased Thanasi Foods LLC, maker of Duke's meat snacks, and BIGS LLC, maker of BIGS seeds. A year later, Conagra picked up Pinnacle Foods Inc.'s portfolio of frozen, refrigerated and shelf-stable products.
Headquartered in Chicago, Conagra Brands generated fiscal 2024 net sales of more than $12 billion.
The company separately confirmed that its fiscal year 2025 guidance issued on July 11 would not have been affected by the Sweetwood Smoke & Co. transaction.