4505 Sells to Benestar Brands, CEO Says Company Will Move Beyond Meat Snacks

Meat snack maker 4505 was acquired by holding company Benestar Brands on Tuesday, a deal that comes as the brand looks to expand beyond its flagship pork rinds under a new leadership team. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

What is 4505?

Launched at Bay Area farmer’s markets in 2009 by founder and chef Ryan Farr, 4505 is part of a group of brands that have emerged over the past decade offering a premium, antibiotic and hormone-free pork rind. The brand has since grown in tandem with consumers’ interest in the ketogenic diet and in 2016 the product entered Whole Foods Market as part of the grocer’s first crunchy meat snack set.

4505’s full product line now also includes crunchy pork cracklins; a pork rind, cracklin and cheese crisp snack mix called Cheese-Charrones; and Pork Crumbles, a bread crumb alternative made from a blend of crushed cracklins and pork rinds (though both the Crumbles and Snack Mixes currently appear to be out of stock). The company also introduced a line of sausage snacks under the Butcher’s Snacks brand last year.

The company changed leadership in 2021, first with president Anish Sheth leaving the company and then CEO Farr stepping down to focus on his restaurants. Farr remains the company’s chairman of the board and assists with innovation. He was succeeded by Duke’s Freshly Craft Smoked Meats and BIGS founder Erik Havlik, while another former Duke’s and BIGS employee, Greg O’Neal, was appointed CMO.

Over its lifespan, Encore Consumer Capital and CircleUp both backed the brand, with Benestar Brands also a “small minority” shareholder in the company.

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, 4505 grew 35% in YOY dollar growth in 2021, according to O’Neal, and now has the fourth highest dollar sales in the total pork rind category. The brand “is the number one premium brand in the category,” he added, with higher sales than General Mill’s Epic Provisions. Currently 4505’s products are sold in over 10,000 stores with key retailers including Costco, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Safeway-Albertsons, Kroger, Publix and Walmart.

What is Benestar Brands?

Created and backed by Highland Capital Partners, Benestar Brands is a holding company for a range of snack products, primarily in the pork rind and corn tortilla chips subcategories, including Pretzilla, Mac’s, Cazo de Oro, Turkey Creek Snacks, PÖRQ and Chicas Chips.

Benestar acquired Evans Food Group from Wind Point Partners in 2019, adding one of the leading manufacturers of pork rinds to its roster, along with most of the brands it now sells. The Evans Group is 4505’s pork rind co-packer and has five facilities throughout the U.S. and Mexico.

Though most of Benestar’s brands are more conventional products, it’s familiar with the premium pork rind space, having developed and launched PÖRQ with the help of innovation group DuPuis.

What Was the Deal and Why Sell?

Havlick said he will continue as CEO of 4505, telling NOSH that when he joined the company last September it was not actively seeking a buyer nor was it “looking to test the waters in the near future.” The 4505 board brought on Havlick and O’Neal for their expertise in channel strategy, brand development and innovation, he said, and ultimately felt Benestar would expedite these goals.

“We feel that we had a path to some significant growth through [our] core categories, but also [through] channel expansion and an overall portfolio expansion,” Havlick said. “But frankly, the timing of this new partnership is excellent for both parties. Certainly we are at an inflection point, and they recognize that… this is a ‘better together’ story.”

Benestar will also add operational and supply chain efficiencies, Havlick noted, giving the brand a closer relationship with its co-packer and allowing it to share delivery space with trucks that distribute and deliver Benestar’s other snack brands. 4505 will bring a deeper understanding of the natural channel to the partnership, while Benestar has a stronger relationship with retail buyers in conventional grocers and c-stores.

What Does the Future Look Like for 4505?

First up will be expanding distribution across all channels, including convenience, Havlick said. Though some premium meat snacks have struggled with a higher price point compared to conventional competitors, he said early indicators are that the brand is performing “exceptionally well” in conventional and mass retailers

Though 4505’s heritage is in the meat snacks space, Havlick ultimately sees a future for the brand beyond pork rinds and meat sticks, with a goal to “speak to a wider salty snacking audience” via more high-protein, low-carb snacks.

“As we look at a broader portfolio of innovation,” O’Neal added, “We are looking at both meat and non-meat based innovation that aligns with our mission… to bring chef inspired snacks to folks.”

While that’s a broad mandate, Havlick says that the brand plans to focus on salty snacks. The company has not done this yet, he added, only because it was “appropriately focused” on its core category. With a larger partner now onboard, the company can move forward.

“When you’re a small brand and you’re a challenger brand, especially when you’re going into a premium space against very mainstream incumbents, you really have to stay laser focused,” he noted “It’s hard to have that discipline [but] it’s important to make sure that you’re executing against that well, that you are proving yourself with new channel partners, and that you’re winning, because that’s ultimately what creates a platform for growth and for the adoption of your innovation.”