Second Nature Picks Up Sahale From Smuckers

Snack platform Second Nature Brands (SNB) has purchased nut brand Sahale Snacks from The J.M. Smucker Company.

The all cash transaction is valued at roughly $34 million and includes trademarks and other intellectual property, as well as Sahale’s leased manufacturing facility in Seattle. According to a press release, employees at the plant will transition to SNB as well.

For the fiscal year ending April 30, 2023, Sahale reported net sales of $48 million. Though the product line is sold internationally, Smucker’s said the brand’s revenue derives largely from U.S. sales. Sales are almost in line with when Smuckers bought the brand in 2014, at that time reporting the nut brand’s revenue at $50 million.

The deal is the CapVest Partners-owned company’s second purchase in under a year. Its efforts to ramp up expansion of its snack and treat platform date back to a 2021 rebrand, which saw Kar’s Brands transition its Kar’s Nuts, Sanders Chocolates and Second Nature Snacks lines under a new Second Nature moniker. The goal, executives told NOSH at the time, was to create a parent company to provide the portfolio a more unified framework, and ultimately, support further brand additions.

In December of this year, SNB then added Brownie Brittle, purchasing the treat line from Encore Consumer Partners.

“Sahale Snacks adds a fantastic super-premium product to our range, considerably broadens our snack mix & nut portfolio and unlocks significant new opportunities for us to help grow the category,” said Victor Mehren, CEO of SNB in a press release

For Smuckers, the deal is evidence of the company’s ongoing efforts to narrow its attention towards more profitable, growing sections of the business, in particular, its wildly successful Uncrustables brand.

Roughly two weeks ago the nut butter and spread company made its own acquisition, picking up Twinkie, Ho-Ho, Voortman Cookie and Ding-Dong maker Hostess for $5.6 billion.

“The divestiture of the Sahale Snacks brand will support continued growth in our Consumer Foods business,” said Mark Smucker, Smucker’s chair of the board, president and CEO. “As always, any decision that impacts our employees is only made after careful consideration and I want to thank all who have supported this brand, which has played an important role in our consumer foods portfolio.”

According to an IRI report from January 2023, the snack nuts market saw a 2% drop in dollar sales and 4.1% drop in volume year-over-year, with the data company noting branded products within the category are subject to cannibalization by private label brands.

That said, consumers are still looking for better-for-you snacks, the data company wrote, and snack nuts are a core driver of that category. When surveyed, 26% of consumers said snack nuts support mental wellbeing and 32% said they “help me manage my weight.”