Seven Sundays Acquires Longtime Manufacturer

Better-for-you breakfast brand Seven Sundays revealed it has taken a step toward vertical integration with the acquisition of its longtime manufacturing partner Birch Packaging, formerly Chippewa Packaging. The transaction closed in June, and financial details were not disclosed.

The deal adds more than 50 new employees — including Chippewa Packaging founder Mike Steele — and a facility located in St. Peter. Minn., to Seven Sundays’ operations as the company readies for a significant retail expansion and new product launches. The Minneapolis-based cereal and granola maker added 10,000 new doors this year, including Target, Walmart and Kroger, bringing its total count to 20,000 nationwide.

“Birch has been one of our closest partners for more than 10 years. We wanted to bring that work back home to Minnesota and take more control of our supply network,” Brady Barnstable, co-founder and chief cultivation officer, told Nosh via email.

“By bringing this portion of our manufacturing in-house, we can meet the growing demand for our products, maintain product quality and transparency, and move new innovations to market more quickly,” he added.

Specifically, Seven Sundays is now equipped to innovate across its Protein Oats line, expand price-pack assortment, and, with added packaging and kitting capabilities, offer more on-the-go formats, Barnstable said.

A certified B Corporation, Seven Sundays markets a broad assortment of breakfast foods, including muesli, grain-free granola, oatmeal and cereal crafted with no refined sugars, flavors, dyes or preservatives. Several products incorporate upcycled ingredients such as oat and sunflower protein.

In 2023, the company raised $6 million in equity funding from individual private investors and follow-on investors to support product development and sustainability initiatives, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.