USA – Specialty food manufacturer, Stonewall Kitchen has completed acquisition of the organic apple sauce and raw apple cider vinegars producer, Vermont Village brand from parent company Village Cannery of Vermont.
The deal, whose financial terms were not disclosed, was announced in August this year. Stonewall said that acquisition will support its ambitions of establishing a leading premium branded specialty food platform.
The Barre-based Vermont Village operates three facilities with its apple cider vinegar, apple cider vinegar shots, functional vinegars, malt vinegar, apple sauces and apple butter available in more than 13,000 stores nationwide.
“We’re thrilled to expand our family with this partnership,” said John Stiker, chief executive officer of Stonewall Kitchen.
“Vermont Village is a leader in various apple and vinegar products, with exceptional offerings like their signature Organic Unsweetened Applesauce.
“We’re looking forward to combining the strength of our business with the Vermont Village brand to grow together in product innovation and distribution.”
Joseph Sheperd, owner of Village Cannery of Vermont, added, “This is an exciting new chapter for us at Vermont Village. We’ve dedicated our work to successfully launching products which nourish our customers, community and environment.
“We’re ready to accelerate the growth of our brand, and by joining Stonewall Kitchen, we look forward to leveraging our combined product, sales and marketing expertise to do just that.”
Stonewall Kitchen also has interest in pickled vegetables and cocktail cherries- produced under the Tillen Farms brand – as well as seafood sauces and condiments under Legal Sea Food, a maker of seafood sauces and condiments.
Stiker noted that the company’s acquisition strategy focuses on partnering with premium quality brands that are leaders in their respective categories.
“We also look for brands that can benefit from our expertise in product development, marketing and omni-channel distribution, and which also help us enter new categories, customers, and channels we may not have been able to enter previously.
“The addition of the Vermont Village brand is a perfect example of this, and we’re really excited to continue the growth of that brand.”
The company has more than 6,000 wholesale accounts nationwide and internationally, an online direct-to-consumer business, nine company stores in New England and a flagship campus in York.
