Dive Brief:
- Campbell Soup sold its Emerald nuts business to private label CPG manufacturer Flagstone Foods, the New Jersey company said in a statement. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- Campbell acquired Emerald nuts as part of its $4.9 billion purchase in 2018 of Snyder’s-Lance — the largest in the company’s history. The brand generated net sales of $66 million in fiscal 2022 and $46 million for the nine-month period ended April 30, 2023.
- The nut brand was an outlier in Campbell’s broader snacking portfolio and made up a small portion of the $8.6 billion in net sales the company recorded in its 2022 fiscal year.
Dive Insight:
Once best known for its soups, and snacks such as Pepperidge Farm and Goldfish Crackers, Campbell doubled-down on snacking with its Snyder’s-Lance acquisition in 2018. The purchase added several brands, such as Pop Secret, Kettle, Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps, Late July and Cape Cod, to its portfolio.
Not surprisingly, the 154-year-old food giant is constantly assessing its portfolio to look for brands that no longer fit. In selling Emerald, Campbell Soup is divesting its only nut-focused brand which stood out among the chips, popcorn, cookies, pretzels and crackers that make up the lion’s share of its snacking business. The company will continue to have nut offerings in its portfolio through its Lance brand and use them in products such as Pacific soups and milks, a spokesperson told Food Dive.
“The sale of the Emerald business is part of our ongoing strategic process to create even greater focus on driving accelerated growth across our Snacks division and power brands,” Chris Foley, executive vice president and president of Campbell Snacks, said in a statement.
The purchase by Flagstone is a logical one for the private label food manufacturer. It already does contract manufacturing services for national brands in the snack nut, trail mix and dried fruit categories, so adding Emerald allows it to tap into its existing manufacturing capabilities with its own offering. The brand also will likely have higher margins for Flagstone.
As snacking grows in popularity, nuts have been among the biggest beneficiaries. According to Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery, citing IRI (now part of Circana) data, sales in the snack nuts/seeds/corn nuts category were up 1.8% percent to $5.8 billion for the 52 weeks ended on April 17, 2022.
The sale of Emerald is the latest nut brand to change hands in recent years. Hormel Foods purchased the Planters snack nut portfolio for $3.35 billion from Kraft Heinz in 2021, the largest deal in the Minnesota company’s 131-year history. The acquisition, which also included Cheez Balls and Corn Nuts, instantly made Planters the biggest brand in Hormel’s portfolio.
