Voortman Cookie Brand Changes Hands for $350M
ORRVILLE, Ohio — The J.M. Smucker Co. is selling the Voortman cookie brand to Second Nature Brands, a portfolio company of premium and better-for-you snacks and treats brands, in an all-cash transaction.
Voortman manufactures and markets zero sugar cookies and wafer cookies across the United States and Canada under the Voortman Bakery brand. The transaction includes all Voortman trademarks and its leased manufacturing facility in Burlington, Ontario.
In addition, approximately 300 employees will transition with the business.
"We are excited to welcome the Voortman brand and team to the Second Nature Brands family," said Victor Mehren, CEO of Second Nature Brands. "This strategic and transformative acquisition fits perfectly into our better snacking and treating portfolio of brands. The acquisition of Voortman broadens our scale within the cookie category and unlocks new opportunities and capabilities for future growth in the U.S. and Canada."
This acquisition follows Second Nature Brands' purchase of Sahale Snacks in September 2023 and Brownie Brittle in December 2022. According to the company, the addition of Voortman will further grow its portfolio within the better snacks and treats category, specifically targeting the specialty cookies silo and the Canadian market.
Voortman was previously acquired by Orrville-based The J.M. Smucker Co. in November 2023. To support the expansion of its brands, J.M. Smucker updated a strategic business area structure that placed the Voortman and Hostess Brands of products in the Sweet Baked Snacks division, as Convenience Store News previously reported.
With combined annual sales at more than $500 million, Second Nature Brands' anticipates the Voortman acquisition will add significant size and scale to its portfolio. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of J.M. Smucker's current fiscal year, ending April 30, 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.
Morgan Stanley & Co. acted as exclusive financial advisor to Second Nature Brands on the transaction.
A portfolio company of CapVest Partners headquartered in Michigan, Second Nature Brands owns a growing portfolio of better for you snacks, including trail mix brand Kar's Nuts, Second Nature Snacks, Sahale Snacks, kettle-cooked sea salt caramel manufacturer Sanders, and Brownie Brittle, a crispy brownie snack.