Campbell to Acquire Plum Organics
Campbell Soup Co. has entered into an agreement to acquire Plum Organics, a top provider of premium, organic foods and snacks for babies, toddlers and children. The Emeryville, Calif.-based company’s Plum product line is the No. 2 brand of organic baby food in the United States and currently the No. 4 baby food brand overall.
Baby food is an approximately $2 billion category in the United States. From 2010 to 2012, the premium and organic segments grew at an average annual rate of 43 percent.
“Plum Organics’ nutritious, on-trend products are a great addition to our North American portfolio of leading brands,” said Denise Morrison, president and CEO of Camden, N.J.-based Campbell. “The acquisition will help deliver on our dual mandate to strengthen our core businesses and to expand into faster-growing categories and adjacencies. It represents another step toward our long-term goal of shifting Campbell’s center of gravity.”
“Plum was founded by a group of parents on a mission to give the very best food to our little ones,” noted Neil Grimmer, who in 2007 co-founded the company, which now offers more than 150 products. “To date, we’ve made a huge impact serving over 200 million organic meals and snacks. Joining the Campbell family will allow us to amplify our mission to reach even more little ones on a global scale.”
Among Plum’s most popular products are organic baby food in convenient squeezable pouches; Super Puffs, a line of bite-sized nutritious puffed snacks; Plum Mighty Four, a line of nutritious toddler snack pouches; and Plum Kids Mashups, a line of squeezable fruit, veggies and Greek yogurt.
Campbell will operate Plum as a stand-alone business within its Campbell North America division. Senior members of Plum Organics’ management team, including Grimmer, will join Campbell but continue to operate Plum from Emeryville. As president of Plum, Grimmer will report to Mark Alexander, president-Campbell North America.
“Plum Organics has deep connections and strong appeal with young parents,” observed Alexander. “We believe that the combination of Plum’s brands and unique products with Campbell’s brand-building capabilities, consumer insights expertise and supply chain resources will help accelerate the brand’s growth.”
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Campbell will fund the acquisition through available credit. The closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013.