A summary of three healthy food acquisitions that took place in recent days:
1. A sweet deal in Sweden – Bayn Europe acquires Pändy Foods
Monday, 13th January 2020: Bayn Europe AB announced that it had acquired Pändy Foods AB having entered into a Letter of Intent.
Swedish company Pändy Foods was founded by three engineering students in 2015, they wanted to create healthier snacks – low in sugar and high in protein. By 2018 they had developed a range of thirteen healthy products which include protein bars and energy drinks, on sale in fifteen countries. In 2019, the company had sales of approximately SEK 11.6 million and is expected to have significant growth in 2020.
Bayn Europe, also based in Sweden, has a background in exporting the plant based sweetener ‘Stevia’. The company now develops and markets sweetened fibres which are used by the food and beverage industry to reduce the amount of sugar and calories in their products.
On the subject of the acquisition, CEO of Pändy Foods AB, Simon Petrén said “Together with the team at Bayn we see a great opportunity to grow significantly faster and act on incoming inquiries as well as create a leading company group for the future of healthy foods and sugar-reduced products.”
Bayn’s ownership will account for approximately 51% of the combined value of the group. The acquisition will be financed primarily through the issue of new shares. The acquisition is planned to be completed during the first quarter of 2020.
2. A healthy US acquisition: Oh My Green buys Byte Foods
Tuesday 14th January 2020: Founded out of the Stanford-StartX Incubator and Y Combinator, Oh My Green delivers healthy food snacks and drinks to businesses across the US, from New York to Denver and Los Angeles. Their ‘Happiness Amabassors’ monitor client stock levels within office kitchen stations via mobile and desktop applications so that they can restock products promptly.
Byte Foods’ technology allows food companies to sell their products anywhere, using small unattended stores. The proprietary hardware and software platform provides unprecedented real-time visibility.
Through the acquisition of Byte Foods, Oh My Green will be able to expand beyond office spaces to provide unattended storefronts within hospitals, government facilities and universities.
“The storefronts will expand the array of food and beverage offerings currently available to Oh My Green customers and allow for further distribution of Oh My Green’s healthy food services to a variety of organization sizes and budgetary needs, while helping us continue our mission of empowering people to live healthy and blissful lives,” said Michael Heinrich, founder and CEO of Oh My Green. “We believe companies of all sizes should be able to have accessible options to offer healthy food and services to their employees.”
“The acquisition of Byte Foods is an important milestone in becoming the ‘go-to’ technology partner for Oh My Green,” said Megan Mokri, CEO of Byte Technology. “Byte developed this technology from the ground up to meet the growing demand for convenient access to fresh food, anywhere. Byte Foods is a thriving business built on the principle that employers don’t need a budget to provide fresh food for their employees. The acquisition of Byte Foods allows Oh My Green to serve this very large and underserved market while empowering Byte Technology to become a pure-play technology provider for food companies everywhere.”
3. Dutch plant-based purchase: Upfield Group B.V. completes purchase of Arivia
Thursday 16th January: Upfield Group B.V., the global leader of plant-based butter and spreads (including iconic brands Flora, Rama, Blue Band, Proactiv, Becel, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Country Crock and Violife) has announced that one of its group companies, Upfield Europe B.V. has completed its purchase of Arivia S.A., a leading producer of plant-based cheese.
Arivia develops plant-based dairy and dairy-free products, using mainly coconut oil. The company employs around three hundred staff with a production plant in Northern Greece. Their range of products are especially popular with people who are lactose intolerant, vegans and those who follow a low in cholesterol diet and cannot (or should not) consume animal fat.
Commenting on the closure, David Haines, CEO of Upfield Group B.V. said, “Bringing together plant-based margarines and cheeses under one roof is a natural fit, and we’re confident that the combined expertise of both companies will continue to drive exciting growth and innovation in the plant-based food sector.”
