Our Home Acquires Sonoma Creamery
Our Home’s better-for-you snack platform is expanding with today’s announcement that it has acquired cheese crisp snack maker Sonoma Creamery for an undisclosed sum.
The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions by Our Home, previously known as Powered by Real Food From The Ground Up; the company acquired R.W. Garcia and Good Health brands, along with two production facilities from Utz in January. Sonoma CEO John Crean will also work alongside Our Home to transition Sonoma’s existing team into its new parent company, but said he has plans to move on to new opportunities once the integration has been completed.
The deal includes Sonoma’s production facility and warehouse, along with its registered trademark for the “Sonoma” name. Our Home will now operate about eight facilities across the country, Crean said.
“This acquisition expands Our Home into the cheese snack category, reinforcing our position as a leading independent better-for-you snacking platform,” said Aaron Greenwald, founder and CEO of Our Home, in a press release. “Sonoma has a 90+ year history in the cheese business, and its quality of products and manufacturing process delivers the best tasting and most premium cheese snack on the market.”
Sonoma Creamery, founded in 1931, expanded into cheese-based snacks in 2014 and now sells two lines – Cheese Crisps and Pizza Crisps – with a combined count of 10 SKUs and flavors ranging from Tomato Basil to Habanero Lime. The products are sold through UNFI and KeHE to retailers including Kroger, H-E-B, Raley’s and Food Lion.
According to Crean, the Sonoma business has undergone a complete transformation in the past two years, notably divesting its fresh cheese business to The Atalanta Corporation last May in order to shift focus to opportunities in snacks. Those efforts have allowed the company to increase product margins and profitability while reducing its SKU count and focusing on its top-sellers.
“[Since 2014] we had to put our energy into the snack business, and so it was a really pivotal move to exit [fresh cheese] and focus entirely on the snack business,” said Crean. “Since then, we’ve expanded our sales, we’re the only company in the cheese crisp space that is growing year on year, [and] we’ve expanded our profitability, efficiency and velocities.”
Under Our Home, Sonoma’s snacks will join a portfolio with a strong presence in the better-for-you snack category, with brands that include Food Should Taste Good, Popchips, Real Food From The Ground Up and YOU NEED THIS.
As for Sonoma, Crean believes that the cheese-crisp brand’s position in the space, which has been largely dominated by keto-positioned products, helped it not only stand out, but also remain relevant as the diet claim’s popularity has decreased.
“I think they recognize the strength of our [product quality and innovation] and our absolute commitment to clean label and the best premium ingredients,” said Crean. “We don’t attempt or pretend to be the cheapest, we don’t angle at a commodity, we attempt to be the best and we are the best.”
