Back to Nature Sold to Barilla America

Back to Nature has traded hands, with BA Brussels, LLC, a subsidiary of Barilla America, acquiring the snack brand as part of a larger strategy to diversify its U.S. portfolio.

“We focus all our business activities and products on health and indulgence and hence Back to Nature was a natural choice,” Guido Barilla, Chairman of the Barilla Group, said in a statement sent to NOSH. “We are excited to see how our efforts will evolve in the future”.

Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, were not disclosed. In a press release, seller B&G said it plans to use the net proceeds to pay down long-term debt.

According to B&G executives speaking on the company’s third quarter earnings call last month, Back to Nature had roughly $50 million in sales last year, and though it was performing well in the market, the snack line no longer fit with B&G’s core focus areas of spices, baking and frozen vegetables. The company said Back to Nature’s assets included $109.9 million in indefinite-lived trademark intangible assets, $29.5 million of goodwill, $11 million of finite-lived customer relationship intangible assets and $7.4 million of inventories to assets held for sale. B&G’s decision to pivot caused a pre-tax, non-cash impairment charge of $103.6 million for the quarter, which represented the book value of the assets compared to the estimated fair value loss anticipated cost to sell.

In addition to its eponymous pastas and sauces, Barilla America, a division of the 145-year-old Italian food company, also owns and operates the Tolerant line of legume-based pastas and Wasa line of crackers. The company also owns several snack, pastry and bakery brands in international markets including Mulino Bianco and Pan di Stelle in Italy as well as Harry’s in France.

In total, bakery accounts for 43.6% of Barilla’s global net sales, a 2021 company report indicated, and the corporation has made known its interest in going further into the segment — particularly when it comes to better-for-you and better-for-the-planet options. Barilla’s incubation, research and investment arm, BluFuture, has made bakery, sustainable diets and the Mediterranean diet key focus points.

“At Barilla, we aspire to build a long-term and significant presence in the U.S. baking industry and this operation reminds me of when we first started our journey with pasta over 25 years ago and we are now the market leader,” Barilla said. “The acquisition of Back to Nature is a key step for this exciting journey.”

Within the U.S. the company also operates Good Food Makers (GFM), an eight-week accelerator program, which has included snack and baking brand Renewal Mill in a past cohort. The most recent call for GFM applications noted Barilla was also looking to partner with companies in “technical innovation with a focus on….cooking baked goods to improve efficiency, quality and/or provide new sensory characteristics.”

B&G purchased the now roughly 60-year-old snack brand in 2017 for $162.5 million from a joint venture between Brynwood VI and Mondelez Global. Though that deal also included the Snackwell’s brand, which was discontinued by B&G earlier this year, Barilla did not purchase the assets of the low-fat cookie line.

Despite its long history in the category, Back to Nature has sought to keep up with younger, more contemporary brands. In 2020 B&G rebranded the line, also shifting to an entirely plant-based ingredient deck (aside from honey) that made use of newer ingredients such as pea protein and hemp.

“The demand for better-for-you snacks has never been greater, and to keep up with consumer eating trends, we’re excited to announce that the Back to Nature brand’s entire snack assortment will be plant based,” Jordan Greenberg, EVP & chief commercial officer of B&G Foods said at the time.