Hero Group acquires Baby Gourmet

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By CPE News

CPE News (1/18/2021) – The Hero Group, an international food company focused on branded nutritional food products, has acquired Baby Gourmet. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Founded by two sisters, Jennifer Carlson and Jill Vos in 2005, Calgary based Baby Gourmet is the first-to-market and leading pouched, privately held organic baby food company in Canada. Their range of products are available nationwide at all major food retailers.

Carlson and Vos will stay as officer and shareholders of the company.

Lenzburg, Switzerland based The Hero Group is majority owned the Oetker family. Hero’s main core product categories of Baby & Toddler Food and Milks, Natural Spreads, and Healthy Snacks, are complemented by its activities in Gluten Free and Specialties. The Group generated revenues of CHF 1.19 billion in 2019.

photo credit: Baby Gourmet

News Release

Baby Gourmet is Acquired By the Hero Group
After 15 years leading Canada’s organic baby food market, Baby Gourmet joins the Hero Group’s ‘goodness of nature’ portfolio

CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Baby Gourmet​, Canada’s leading, mission-driven organic meal and snack brand for babies and toddlers, has been acquired by the Hero Group, an international food company focused on branded nutritional food products. The Baby Gourmet acquisition includes the company’s organic U.S. kids snack brand, Slammers Snacks. Together, the Hero Group (whose brand portfolio also includes Beech-Nut, a leading U.S. natural baby food brand) and Baby Gourmet will expand Baby Gourmet’s nutritious, natural and organic footprint in North America.

Baby Gourmet was founded by two sisters, Jennifer Carlson and Jill Vos in 2005. Entering the Canadian baby food market in 2010 with organic pouches, by 2012 Baby Gourmet was leading the market share in the organic baby food category. The company has since extended its range to include cereals and plant based snacks. In 2014 Baby Gourmet launched Slammers Snacks nationally across the U.S.

“After 15 years of building Canada’s leading organic baby food brand, Jill and I are thrilled to launch our next phase of growth with Hero. With our shared values, Hero is the perfect home for Baby Gourmet; a place where we can continue to develop our beloved, mission-driven brand,” said Jennifer Carlson, CEO & co-founder of Baby Gourmet.

“We are extremely pleased to have positively concluded the acquisition of Baby Gourmet and to have found a strategic partnership model with the founders to continue their entrepreneurial success story. Baby Gourmet fits our ‘conserving the goodness of nature’ mission perfectly,” said Rob Versloot, CEO of the Hero Group. “The baby food market is our largest category, where we are keen on further increasing our footprint.”

With Jen and Jill staying at the helm as officers and shareholders of the company, Baby Gourmet and Slammers Snacks will continue to serve their customers the highest quality food available while expanding offerings across categories. For more information, please visit www.babygourmet.com and www.slammersnacks.com

About Baby Gourmet
Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Baby Gourmet® is the first-to-market and leading pouched, privately held organic baby food company in Canada. Their range of products are available nationwide at all major food retailers. The Baby Gourmet team has also launched its organic kids snack brand, Slammers Snacks, nationally in the U.S. For more information please visit ​www.babygourmet.com​ and www.slammerssnacks.com.

About Hero Group
The Hero Group is an international food company focused on branded nutritional food products. The company was founded in 1886 in Lenzburg, Switzerland, where its headquarters are still located today. Hero’s main core product categories of Baby & Toddler Food and Milks, Natural Spreads, and Healthy Snacks, are complemented by its activities in Gluten Free and Specialties. The Group, which lives by its mission to delight consumers by conserving the goodness of nature, boasts a global footprint and its portfolio consists of many well-known international and local brands. In 2019, the Group generated revenues of CHF 1.19 billion.

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