Filipino giant Century Pacific Food has acquired the assets of plant-based meat company Atlantic Natural Foods for less than $10M.
Atlantic Natural Foods, a 135-year-old company behind plant-based brands like Loma Linda and Tuno, has sold off its assets to a Filipino food conglomerate for under $10M.
The deal is the latest example of consolidation in the vegan category, and comes weeks after the firm signed an asset purchase agreement with Century Pacific Food’s North American arm (CPNA).
Owned by the Philippines’s 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.
“The acquisition reflects CPNA’s measured and profitable growth strategy: tapping into established markets while accelerating momentum for plant-based food adoption across diverse geographies,” said Century Pacific COO Greg Banzon.
Loma Linda, Tuno and other brands to bring immediate benefits
Atlantic Natural Foods was founded in 2008, but 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.
In 2014, the firm bought Loma Linda from what was then called Kellogg’s, and has since expanded its brands’ presence to over 25,000 stores in the US, plus 30 other countries.
However, the sales and investment challenges facing the plant-based industry, combined with Covid-19 disruptions, supply chain volatility and rising inflation, hit Atlantic Natural Foods hard. It shut its US manufacturing site in March and began shifting production to Century Pacific, months after withdrawing from an acquisition deal with Above Food, which had been in the works for three years.
Then, in May, Atlantic Natural Foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, listing $10-50M in assets and $1-10M in liabilities, with 100 to 199 creditors. “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,” explained chairman Doug Hines.
It entered a purchase agreement with Century Pacific shortly after, and has now sold off its entire portfolio of brands to the Filipino company. These include Loma Linda, Tuno, Neat, and Kaffree Roma.
Banzon suggested that the acquisition would bring immediate financial benefits to the business, with operational integration expected to be a seamless, bolt-on match to CPNA’s existing plant-based business, allowing it to scale up without disruption.
It aligns with the acquisition strategy outlined by CEO Teodoro Po. “There are a few bolt-ons, so those are of smaller sizes that we can just bolt on to our existing platforms,” he told the Philippine Star last month.
Atlantic Natural Foods becomes latest plant-based acquisition
With the transaction, Atlantic Natural Foods’s brands join CNPA’s Unmeat brand of plant proteins. The latter offers shelf-stable products in over 13,000 stores globally, including Walmart, Albertsons, HEB, and Meijer in the US.
In a press release, Century Pacific said its advanced R&D capabilities and world-class manufacturing attracted Atlantic Natural Foods as a supply partner, which eventually led to the acquisition.
“This is a strategic and synergistic move for CPNA. We are bringing together a trusted heritage brand and a disruptor brand under one roof, leveraging decades of consumer trust with bold innovation,” said Banzon. “This allows us to serve both loyal customers and new generations seeking accessible, nutritious, and sustainable food choices.”
The initial move to shift production to Century Pacific 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, which 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.
The takeover seeks to reinforce CNPA’s “broader mission of building a healthier, more sustainable portfolio that provides affordable nutrition to the consumers we serve”, Banzon said.
It is the latest in a long list of M&A deals in the plant-based sector. Vegan pet food maker Wild Earth was recently acquired by InvenTel after filing for bankruptcy, while Daring Foods was bought by Australia’s v2food last week. Also in the US, Wicked Kitchen, Simulate, and Blackbird Foods have all been taken over by Ahimsa Companies in the last year or so, while dairy-free cheesemaker Vertage was snapped up by Misha’s Inc in January.
The post Century Pacific Buys Loma Linda, Tuno from Plant-Based Meat Maker for Under $10M appeared first on Green Queen.
This post was originally published on Green Queen.