Pepsi acquires Bare Snacks, expands better-for-you portfolio

28 May 2018 --- PepsiCo, Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Bare Foods Co. (doing business as Bare Snacks), a US-based maker of baked fruit and vegetable snacks. The transaction will expand the company's snacking portfolio and further deliver on its Performance with Purpose vision to offer consumers more positive nutrition options.

The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but a source told CNBC that Pepsi will pay less than $200 million for the snack company.

"For nearly a dozen years, PepsiCo has been committed to Performance with Purpose, our vision of making more nutritious products, while also reducing added sugars, salt, and saturated fat. Bare Snacks fits perfectly within that vision," said Indra Nooyi, chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo. "The Bare Snacks leadership team has done an outstanding job building a top-tier organization and a strong brand with authentic roots, and I couldn't be more excited to welcome Bare Snacks to the PepsiCo family."

Bare Snacks was founded in 2001 by a family-owned organic apple farm in Washington, that began selling packaged baked apple chips in local farmers' markets. Under its current leadership team, it has expanded steadily to become the leader in apple, banana and coconut snacks. It has recently expanded into vegetable chips and offers the industry's broadest assortment of baked crunchy fruit and vegetable chips. Bare products are made from simple ingredients that are baked, not fried. They are Non GMO Project verified, feature clean labels and are sold online and in natural and conventional retail channels across the United States.

"We are thrilled to work with the PepsiCo team to further our mission of bringing simplicity to snacking," said Santosh Padki, CEO of Bare Foods. "With a shared passion for crunchy, better-for-you snacks, PepsiCo is the right partner to help bring our simply baked fruit and vegetable snacks to even more consumers across the world and continue to grow our brand."

Upon closing, Bare Snacks will continue to operate independently from its headquarters in San Francisco with its leadership reporting into Frito-Lay North America, a division of PepsiCo. 

"Bare premium baked fruit and vegetable chips are an exciting expansion of Frito-Lay's better-for-you snack offerings," said Vivek Sankaran, president and chief operating officer for Frito-Lay North America. "While we will continue to offer the current Bare Snacks product line, we look forward to working with the Bare Snacks team to deliver new, innovative options, and ultimately expanded distribution, to meet the ever-growing consumer demands for authentic and nutritious snacks." 

U.S. food companies have made a flurry of acquisitions in the snack food space as they seek to tap rising demand for snacks that have low salt content and are less processed.

Last year, Kellogg said it would buy the owner of RXBAR protein bars for $600 million, while Campbell Soup acquired Snyder's-Lance, the maker of Cape Cod potato chips, in a US$4.9 billion deal.