PepsiCo Buys Bare Foods, Maker of Fruit and Vegetable Snacks -- 2nd Update
May 25 2018 - 9:04PM
Dow Jones News
By Aisha Al-Muslim and Annie Gasparro
PepsiCo Inc. said Friday it is buying Bare Foods Co., a maker of
fruit and vegetable snacks, as the global food and beverage company
looks to expand its offerings of healthier fare.
The deal unites the owner of Lays and Doritos snacks with a San
Francisco-based startup that sells baked fruit and vegetable chips.
Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
Bare Snacks was founded in 2001 by a family-owned organic apple
farm in Washington state. It began with packaged apple chips and
its products now include banana chips as well as vegetables such as
beet chips.
In an interview last month, the company's CEO, Santosh Padki,
who joined a couple of years ago, was critical of the traditional
packaged-food industry. "Big companies have faced problems with
quality and not connecting to the consumer, and now they are
backing into a corner," he said.
Bare Snacks stands out as its chips are sold alongside fresh
produce, making them visible to more shoppers since fewer people
browse the center grocery aisles.
"Other brands have tried to make inroads in produce, but
(retail) buyers don't really have the space," he said.
In a news release Friday announcing the deal, Mr. Padki said,
"PepsiCo is the right partner to help bring our simply baked fruit
and vegetable snacks to even more consumers across the world."
PepsiCo has been trying to make more nutritious products while
also reducing added sugars, salt and saturated fat in its products.
"Bare Snacks fits perfectly within that vision," PepsiCo CEO Indra
Nooyi said in prepared remarks.
Its Frito-Lay unit has a line of baked snacks, including potato
crisps and Cheetos. PepsiCo's food brands include Sabra hummus,
Smartfood popcorn and Stacy's pita chips.
Write to Aisha Al-Muslim at aisha.al-muslim@wsj.com and Annie
Gasparro at annie.gasparro@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 25, 2018 20:49 ET (00:49 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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