Kodiak Cakes Sells to L Catterton, Will Look to Go ‘Where White Flour Dominates’

Protein remains a major force of attraction for consumers, as is evidenced today by the sale of protein enhanced baking mix and snack brand Kodiak Cakes to private equity firm L Catterton.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Kodiak shareholders, including investor Sunrise Strategic Partners (and the fund’s partner Trilantic North America) along with Kodiak’s founders and management team will remain as “significant” minority shareholders. Kodiak was represented by Houlihan Lokey in the transaction.

Catterton plans to keep Kodiak at its current Park City headquarters and retain its existing management staff, including co-founder and president Cameron Smith as well as CEO and co-founder Joel Clark.

The company launched into retail in 1995, although Clark claims he sold his mother’s pancake mix door-to-door via a “little red wagon” as early as 1982. Kodiak gained notoriety after Clark appeared on TV show Shark Tank in 2013. The company said its revenues had grown more than fifty times since recording the television show and that it now has over $200 million in annual revenue. The brand’s line of baking mixes, frozen breakfast items, snacks and syrups are sold in over 26,000 doors including Costco, Target, Walmart, Whole Foods, Publix and Safeway.

Sunrise invested more than $16 million in Kodiak in 2016, according to an SEC filing. Clark said the company subsequently brought in more funding from Sunrise in 2018. Other L Catterton investments have included Cholula (which it sold to McCormick in 2020), Kettle Chips, Home Chef, Plum Organics, and Sweet Leaf Tea.

“We felt they were really a great fit for us in our culture,” Clark said. “And then when we look[ed] at their track record with building brands, it was very attractive to us. We just felt like, ‘okay what they are good at is what we need.’”

Kodiak has gone far past its flagship Power Cakes mix, with over 80 products listed on its website. After launching microwavable single serve baking mixes, frozen waffles and pancakes, dessert mixes, syrups and oatmeal, the company most recently expanded into snacking — launching graham bites and crispy granola bars. Clark said moving forward, the company will maintain its goal of “going anywhere white flour dominates,” but particularly focus on breakfast and snacking.

“Working with Joel to build Kodiak Cakes is one of the best runs I have enjoyed in my career,” Steve Hughes, Co-Founder of Sunrise Strategic Partners, said. “Joel Clark is one of the sharpest, and more importantly, genuinely good, people I have had the pleasure of partnering with.”

Clark attributes the company’s focus on protein, which he said is an easy to understand and widely appealing point of differentiation, as one of the reasons for the company’s success. While many legacy baking brands have focused on low prices, and in turn become commoditized, Kodiak instead embraced a more premium price point. Alongside Kodiak, other baking brands followed a similar strategy, including Simple Mills and Birch Benders, which sold to Sovos Brands last year.