Atlantic Natural Foods, the company behind Loma Linda and Tuno, has signed an asset purchase agreement with Philippines-based Century Pacific Food.
Two months after declaring bankruptcy, US legacy plant-based meat player Atlantic Natural Foods has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Filipino food processor Century Pacific Food.
It will allow Atlantic Natural Foods, whose roots date back 135 years, to continue operating after an extended period of uncertainty.
Inflation and tariffs get costs spiralling
While Atlantic Natural Foods was founded in 2008, its portfolio brand Loma Linda has been around since 1890, when it was established by John Harvey Kellogg, the creator of corn flakes and brother of Kellanova founder WK Kellogg.
The New Orleans-based firm bought Loma Linda from what was then known as Kellogg’s in 2014, and has since expanded its brands’ presence to over 25,000 stores in the US, plus 30 other countries.
The company has manufacturing plants in both Nashville, North Carolina, and Bangkok, Thailand; in January 2024, it began transitioning its supply chain to other locations. That effort was accelerated in December, after it withdrew from an acquisition deal with Above Food, which had been in the works for three years.
“This decision reflects a strategic realignment following a comprehensive evaluation of the evolving business landscape,” Atlantic Natural Foods said at the time. “Factors such as the global impact of Covid-19, supply chain disruptions and rising food inflation played a key role.”
Months later, the firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, listing $10-50M in assets and $1-10M in liabilities, with 100 to 199 creditors.
“During this period, Atlantic Natural Foods experienced rapid cost escalation with material impact directly related to tariffs on steel (from which our cans are made), grains, spices, along with egg whites and more,” said chairman Doug Hines.
“The restructuring of government tariffs, inflation, price pressures from government and others, labour, insurance – coupled with cybersecurity attacks which have created IT cost to increase three times – showed no relief on the near horizon,” he added.
Atlantic Natural Foods doubles down on Adventist church customer community
The aforementioned challenges forced Atlantic Natural Foods to shutter its US manufacturing site in March and begin shifting production to Century Pacific. It positioned the Philippines as the primary supply location for Loma Linda’s shelf-stable products, targeting Seventh-day Adventists in the country.
The company has a long history with the church. Kellogg was brought up in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and was the owner of the Loma Linda brand until 1990. Its products are considered a staple for those transitioning to a meat-free diet when joining the church.
Atlantic Natural Foods cited supply chain hurdles and a tough business landscape as the driving factors behind its move to restructure operations. “There is simply too much uncertainty right now,” said Hines.
The shift to Century Pacific has been planned for over a year and will allow supply continuity “well into the next generation” under its oversight, infrastructure, production capacities and capital.
Owned by the Po family, Century Pacific was first founded as a food canning company in 1978, and is now a global processor of meat, seafood, dairy, pet food, and plant-based products. Its CEO, Teodoro Po, said the business is already facing the impacts of the tariff war, but it plans to invest in capacity expansion.
“As far as acquisitions are concerned, there are a few bolt-ons, so those are of smaller sizes that we can just bolt on to our existing platforms. So watch this space,” he told the Philippine Star this week.
Atlantic Natural Foods, meanwhile, is among a number of plant-based businesses that have filed for insolvency, though it can join the growing list of firms that have been rescued from the brink recently including Meatless Farm, VBites, Plant & Bean, Mycorena, and Wild Earth.
“The past months have been the most painful business experience in my 50 years in the food industry,” said Hines. “However, our mission to ensure a continuing food source for the Adventist consumer has remained our number one priority, and in that, we can take great pride in being able to ensure a successful future.”
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