File:Organic - 'Natural' Products companies Corp acquisitions US 1997-2014.pdf

https://www.msu.edu/~howardp/organicindustry.html

The development of the USDA National Organic Standard in place of differing state/regional standards was widely predicted to accelerate trends of increasing consolidation in this sector. The first draft of the standard was released in 1997...

The first wave of acquisitions of organic processors was concentrated between December, 1997 when the draft USDA standard was released, and its full implementation in October, 2002. A second wave of acquisitions has been occurring since 2012. Few companies identify these ownership ties on product labels.

Updates: August 2015, Coca-Cola acquired just under 30% of Suja Juice ($90M), Flowers Foods (#37) acquired Dave’s Killer Bread ($275M), WhiteWave acquired Wallaby Yogurt ($125M); June 2015, Campbell Soup Co. acquired Garden Fresh Gourmet ($231M); May 2015, Hormel (#15) acquired Applegate Farms ($775M), ConAgra acquired Blake’s; January 2015, Post acquired MOM Brands/Malt-O-Meal/BetterOats ($1.15B); September 2014, General Mills acquired Annie’s Homegrown ($820 M), WhiteWave acquired So Delicious ($195 M). August 2014, Tyson acquired Hillshire Brands ($8.5B); April 2014, Post acquired Michael Foods ($2.45 B), Hillshire Brands acquired Van’s Natural Foods ($165 M), Treehouse Foods acquired Protenergy Natural Foods ($150 M), and Hain Celestial acquired Rudi’s Organic Bakery ($61 M).

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _