Bolthouse Farms Acquires Starbucks’ Evolution Fresh
Bolthouse Farms has closed its acquisition of Evolution Fresh from Starbucks, which includes the brand, business and employees supporting Evolution Fresh. By uniting the two powerhouse brands, Bolthouse Farms looks to further accelerate the company’s leadership within the premium juice and refrigerated beverage categories in retail.
Through this acquisition, Bolthouse Farms will expand its beverage offering from nutrient-dense, plant-powered juices and smoothies to include the full lineup of Evolution Fresh’s primarily organic, cold-pressed, premium juices. Starbucks stores in the United States will continue to sell Evolution Fresh products.
“As a combined company, we will share our resources, vertically-integrated supply chain, deep knowledge of fresh produce, and passion for ingenuity and innovation,” said Bill Levisay, president, Consumer Brands, Bolthouse Farms. “Evolution Fresh produces deliciously fresh, cold-pressed juices that consumers are looking for. Our job now is to support their expertise and bring additional resources to the table to expand the brand’s reach.”
Bolthouse Farms is the No. 1 super premium refrigerated beverage brand and one of the largest carrot suppliers to North American retailers.
“Bolthouse has been on a rapid growth trajectory in the last few years, and this acquisition is an important step on the company’s growth journey, with more expected to come,” said CEO Jeff Dunn. “This acquisition expands our portfolio in a way that meets the health and nutrition needs of more consumers than ever before”.
Bolthouse Farms is a portfolio company of Butterfly, a leading private equity firm that specializes in the food sector with a particular focus on high-growth, on-trend categories. Through Bolthouse Farms, Evolution Fresh joins Butterfly’s brand portfolio that includes the likes of Chosen Foods, MaryRuth Organics, Orgain and Pete and Gerry’s Organics.
Terms of the transaction, which Starbucks and Bolthouse Farms announced on May 24, 2022, were not disclosed.
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FMI Supports Credit Card Competition Act
FMI – The Food Industry Association endorsed the bipartisan Credit Card Competition Act sponsored by Sens. Dick Durban (D-IL) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) to guarantee merchant choice in payment routing by requiring at least two processors on credit cards.
“Americans are rightfully concerned about the impact of higher prices on their budgets for the items they need for their families,” said jennifer Hatcher, chief public policy officer and SVP government relations. “Despite this inflationary environment, credit card companies continue to dramatically increase the hidden processing fees that grocers and ultimately consumers are forced to pay for accepting/using credit cards for payments. These fees and increases contribute to higher prices for consumers, costing the typical American family an average of $900 per year, according to Nilson Report.
“We appreciate Sens. Durbin and Marshall for introducing this important bill as a critical first step in bringing greater competition to the credit card market and much needed financial relief to grocers and American families during these extremely challenging economic times.
“These fees charged by credit card companies in the U.S. are some of the highest in the world and account for many retailers’ largest operating cost after labor,” Hatcher said. “In 2021, merchants’ card processing fees totaled $137.8 billion, per Nilson Report, up over 112 percent from the previous decade. As an industry historically operating on 1 to 2 percent profit margins, excessively high credit swipe fees reduce the ability of grocery stores to invest in their businesses and keep prices as low as possible for their customers.
“FMI strongly supports this legislation to bring competition and transparency to the credit card market by requiring more than one network option to route financial data on a credit card – just like most cities have more than one road leading into the city. Requiring more than one routing network would bring down the cost of swipe fees, increase transparency for retailers accepting credit card payments and encourage competition on innovative services and fraud protection.”
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SpartanNash Hosts Its Largest Fall Expo
Food solutions company SpartanNash hosted more than 1,500 food and grocery suppliers and independent retail customers this week for the 2022 Fall Expo at the DeVos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.
The “Delivering Seasonal Values” themed event created a platform for independent grocery customers, CPG-brand representatives and SpartanNash leaders to share upcoming trends; discuss critical industry topics including inflation; and work collaboratively to find innovative solutions to mitigate rising food prices and help pass cost savings on to shoppers at retailers across its network.
The event was the first customer interaction of this scale since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendees participated in several educational sessions, including supercharging marketing efforts, specialty and variety merchandising, shopper expectations, promotional planning, prevention of severe incidents in the workplace and crisis response.
Customers were also connected with hundreds of deals and promotions at booths and auctions, discovering new products offered by both national CPG brands, specialty suppliers and SpartanNash’s refreshed OwnBrands, which provide shoppers with great value on their favorite items at lower price points. Prior to the Expo , independent retail customers were able to attend a model store event at local SpartanNash-owned Family Fare and D&W Fresh Market stores, allowing them to see and experience cutting-edge merchandising and marketing efforts to take back to their own stores.
As a food retailer and distributor, SpartanNash is positioned to support independent retail customers that rely on its robust coast-to-coast Supply Chain. The Expo included deals that customers will leverage to attract business and entice shoppers to shop more, buy more and save more in their stores.
“The SpartanNash Expo was extremely energizing this year, with a heightened focus on delivering the ingredients for a better life, made possible through our unique industry insights and solutions, as well as through the continued benefits from our Supply Chain Transformation initiative,” said SpartanNash Senior Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer Bennett Morgan.
“In the midst of the highest inflationary environment we have seen in the past 50 years, the partnerships and collaboration with our CPG-brand partners, national accounts and 2,100-plus independent grocers have been instrumental in combating higher costs to provide the millions of households we serve with best value on food and everyday household essential items. We are proud to be the distribution partner of choice for our customers, and we are committed to finding even more food solutions to drive superior results.”
Independent grocers value the relationship SpartanNash offers and found the in-person event to be equally beneficial.
“With all the challenges that come along with being an independent retailer, it’s nice to know that we can rely on SpartanNash as our trusted food distribution partner,” said Jason Nilssen, owner of Nilssen’s, a long-standing SpartanNash customer operating grocery stores in the Wisconsin and Minnesota markets. “Being able to count on value-added insights and Expo-related savings, particularly amid inflation, labor shortages and ongoing supply chain issues is critical to our business operation.”
During the event, attendees also had the chance to meet record-setting Heisman trophy winner and 11-year National Football League wide receiver, Desmond Howard, and witness an inspiring keynote address from Michigan native, veteran and Paralympic medalist, Melissa Stockwell, who is the Company’s Our Family brand ambassador.
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