Snacking Giant Mondelēz Acquires Hu
Today snacking and confection powerhouse Mondelēz International announced it was acquiring Hu Master Holdings, the parent company of Hu Products. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but other media outlets have reported the deal valued Hu at $340 million.
Hu senior leadership will also receive a payout based on future performance of the company.
In 2019 Mondelēz took a minority stake in the company, which included a right of first refusal to acquire the company in an eventual sale. Hu will operate as a separate business, continuing to produce all products at current manufacturing facilities.
Hu was founded in 2012 as a quick service restaurant and cafe by investment manager Jason Karp and his wife, Jessica Karp, and her brother, Jordan Brown. The New York-based company expanded into CPG products in 2017, launching chocolate bars, chocolate covered fruit and nuts and coffee beans. The line of low-sugar, clean-label products attracted industry interest with the company announcing in 2018 a funding round from 43 investors including Sonoma Brands, the venture fund helmed by CPG veteran Jon Sebastiani, as well as Dr. Mark Hyman, author Tim Ferriss and billionaire Nelson Peltz.
Mondelēz’s initial investment was unique because the company invested in both Hu’s line of packaged products as well as the restaurant concept. Nevertheless, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company closed its New York-based restaurants in order to focus on its CPG items. It remains unclear if Mondelēz’s final acquisition of the brand also included rights to any future restaurant plans.
At the time of Mondelēz’s initial investment, Karp told NOSH that Hu would benefit from the company’s understanding of its two core lines of business. Mondelēz also owns one of the largest organic chocolate brands with Green & Black as well as several of the leading cracker brands in Ritz, Triscuit and Wheat Thins.
The deal will also help Mondelēz expand further into better-for-you and clean label items — the company has previously acquired Enjoy Life, Tate’s Bake Shop, and Perfect Snacks. The goal, executives have said, is to build out a portfolio of brands that can exist across channels and help the company expand deeper into digital.
“Hu is a strong strategic complement to our snacking portfolio in North America,” Glen Walter, EVP & President, Mondelēz International North America said in a release “This well-being brand platform provides further growth opportunities in chocolate, cross-category potential in crackers, as well as meaningful opportunities to expand distribution including in eCommerce and premium conventional retail.”
Karp came to the food industry after a health scare caused him to rethink his own diet, and ultimately contributed to inspired the creation of Hu. But his involvement in the company has grown over time. In late 2018 he shuttered Turbion Capital, the multibillion dollar fund he founded and ran — turning his full attention to health and wellness industry and Hu, which by then had also launched a line of crackers
In 2019 Hu also brought on former Sir Kensington’s founder and CEO Mark Ramadan to run the business and Karp expanded his efforts to also managing HumanCo, an investment and incubation platform that has since acquired Monty’s, a line of non-dairy cheese, and Coconut Bliss ice cream. Karp has also recently launched his own SPAC, partnering with investment firm CAVU, to further capitalize on the better-for-you industry.
“Jordan, Jessica and I started Hu Kitchen because there was a need to trust and understand every ingredient in our food,” Karp said. “We are excited to fully join [Mondelēz’s] family of brands because we believe their resources, strengths and progressive vision can help us accelerate positive change within snacking and grow the Hu platform in a bigger and broader way.”
