Colavita Grows California Foothold With O Olive Oil & Vinegar Acquisition
Italian food importer, distributor and producer Colavita has acquired California-based O Olive Oil & Vinegar from Lifecore Biomedical’s Curation Foods for $6.23 million, giving Colavita another foothold in the domestic olive oil and wine vinegar category.
“We have always looked with admiration at what the O founders created. A company that produces distinctive oils and vinegars, all 100% from California in a fully integrated way, and located in the heart of the Californian wine region,” said Colavita USA CEO Giovanni Colavita in a press release.
The transaction includes $3.12 million in cash and a $3.12 million seller’s note which will mature on March 31, 2016 and accrues interest at a rate of 12% payable in kind beginning on October 31. In a release, Lifecore stated that net proceeds from the deal will be used to pay down borrowings.
Colavita USA, a subsidiary of Italian food processor and exporter Colavita, already runs production facilities in Edison, New Jersey and Dixon, California. The integration of the Petaluma, California-based O Olive Oil & Vinegar brand increases its reach in the U.S. market with a well-established domestic brand.
Curation Foods (formerly Apio Inc.),a subsidiary of Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. also sold its two avocado-based brands, Yucatan Guacamole and Cabo Fresh, to Flagship Food Group in early February. Curation acquired O Olive Oil and Vinegar in 2017, building an in-house vinegar production facility to support the brand’s growth.
Lifecore CEO and president James G. Hall announced on April 6 that the sale of the O Olive Business completes Lifecore’s “monetization of the remaining Curation Foods assets” as it focuses on its core business of pharmaceutical products in the health and wellness categories.
In the April press release, Lifecore reported that O Olive had $9.2 million in revenue during the trailing twelve-month period ended November 27, 2022. The brand is sold in over 4,000 retailers including Costco, Walmart, Whole Foods and assorted independent and specialty stores.
Founded in Molise, Italy in 1938, Colavita began distributing in the U.S. in 1978 when Colavita USA was established as a partnership between American John J. Profaci and Enrico Colavita to distribute Italian-made products. In 2008, Colavita took a controlling share of Colavita USA and produces its own oils, vinegars, beans and other CPG products. Along with its extra virgin olive oil, Colavita imports many Italian brands like San Benedetto water, Cirio Tomatoes and Motta Panettone among others.
Paolo Colavita, Giovanni Colavita’s cousin and current VP of Colavita USA’s west coast operations, has been named CEO of O Olive Oil & Vinegar.
“Our mission with this acquisition is to stay true to the incredible uniqueness of the O brand without compromise, while utilizing our shared industry expertise to elevate the brand on a global scale,” he said in a statement.
The inclusion of O Olive Oil in the portfolio offers Colavita a domestic product line to compete with other large players in the set such as California Olive Ranch, which has recently expanded its line of California-based oils into adjacent categories such as marinades, dressings and pasta sauces. The producer also acquired Italian food brand Lucini in 2015.
It also comes at a time where consumers are experimenting with smaller, emerging oil and vinegar brands, placing value on premium products with unique flavors, use cases and modernized branding.
While Chef’s Life and Graza have positioned their brands as being culinary focused, educating shoppers on the difference between cooking and finishing oils, other brands including Brightland and Pineapple Collective have emphasized eye-catching form factors. O Olive Oil & Vinegar can offer similar benefits for Colavita, with more bespoke packaging and unique flavors such as Blood Orange, Meyer Lemon, and Fresh Basil that lend themselves to recipe and flavor development.
