Dave’s Gourmet Sells Majority Stake to Gourmerica, Names New President

Condiment brand Dave’s Gourmet announced new leadership and ownership changes this week, selling a majority stake in the company to food platform Gourmerica and bringing on natural food industry veteran David Neuman as its new president.

Texas-based Gourmerica, which invests in and provides expertise to accelerate growth of middle-market food companies, will offer Dave’s more efficiency and consistency throughout the business, according to Dave’s founder Dave Hirschkop, while also supporting its growth through strategic acquisitions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Neuman joins Dave’s after most recently serving as CEO of Greek extra virgin olive oil manufacturer Gaea North America. He has previously held positions at olive oil and gourmet sauce manufacturer Lucini Italia, cereal and granola brand Nature’s Path and Whole Foods Market. Hirschkop said he was impressed by Neuman’s “great record of growth and success.”

“He understands the sauces and how to take a company structured like we are and take it to the next level and put in some more people in the right places and put in some systems that need to be put in,” he said. “He’s a very product-focused guy, which is the DNA of our company, just making great products.”

Founded in 1993, Dave’s offers a range of pasta sauces and overnight oats mixes under its Dave’s Gourmet Specialty Foods trademark, along with hot sauces and spicy condiments through its Dave’s Fiery Foods line. Its products are sold at over 10,000 retailers including Target, Whole Foods, Kroger and Shaw’s as well as through ecommerce and foodservice. The brand recently expanded its portfolio with a new line of premium creamy hot sauces in Garlic Red Pepper, Roasted Jalapeno and Citrus Ginger flavors.

Neuman said in a press release that he “always admired” Dave’s Gourmet wide array of sauces and condiments, and as president will look to “facilitate [Dave’s] ambitious growth plans.”

“This is an exciting category and Dave’s Gourmet has a strong position given the consumer loyalty to the brand developed over more than 20 years, the high-quality of its products, and its continuous focus on innovation,” he said.

With Neuman adding more “structured, business-focused” leadership to the team, Hirschkop said he will now move into a smaller part-time role focused on marketing strategy and innovation.

“I think that for a company to do well, the most important element is that the leader of the company is really motivated and really energized,” Hirschkop said. “While I certainly have the same skill sets I’ve always had, I’m just getting to a point where it had been a long time. I still love the food industry, but I needed to change gears a little bit and give myself a chance to try some other things and do some other projects.”

Hirschkop said the company’s new product pipeline will be focused on new sauces. While its approach to innovation has been largely “intuitive” up to this point, Hirschkop said the company will look to balance this with more consumer and market data in the future.

The sauce category has evolved notably since the early days of Dave’s, Hirschkop noted, with the rise of ecommerce offering wider opportunities for a fresh crop of brands. The hot sauce space in particular has blossomed as spicy products have emerged as a major food trend, with the quality of offerings improving in recent years as well, Hirschkop said. Despite increasing competition, Hirshkop said he believes that Dave’s approach to innovation will help the brand stay ahead of the curve.

“If you understand how to do things in a new way, and you are still offering something that is different and special, you can do really well,” Hirschkop said.