GAITHERSBURG, MD. — Consumer packaged goods company Verus International, Inc. has acquired Eliot’s Nut Butters, a Portland, Ore.-based flavored nut butter company, for $400,000.

Founded in 2013, Eliot’s currently offers six products, including four peanut butters (spicy Thai, honey chipotle, classic salted, and espresso Nib), an Oregon Hazelnut Chocolate Spread, and an Everything Bagel Nut Butter. The company has a national footprint in most US states and is primarily sold in Whole Foods Market, Kroger, natural and specialty grocery stores, and online via Amazon and Eliot’s company website.

According to Verus, Eliot’s is on track to generate approximately $400,000 in revenue during calendar year 2020 and has a three-year growth rate of approximately 60% fueled by significant growth from online and Whole Foods revenue.

“This is a small, strategic acquisition where we are gaining an established product line, new customers, and expertise in online sales,” said Anshu Bhatnagar, chief executive officer of Verus. “Eliot’s is an outstanding, highly rated brand that can benefit from our growing distribution network, so we see the potential for some organic sales acceleration simply through wider distribution. We expect to tap into Eliot’s expertise in online sales, but we are also very excited about new products in development that we expect to open a greater number of retail doors.

“This acquisition provides us an entry point into some specialty and healthier food categories where we would like to expand in the future. Our goal is to have a collection of high-growth food lines that will create natural cross-selling opportunities as our retailer footprint expands. We are looking forward to working with our new Portland-based team to make the Eliot’s brand a household name in the US and other countries.”

Verus said that Michael Kanter, founder of Eliot’s Nut Butters, will remain with the company as president.

Verus’ product line includes condiments, ice cream, meat and poultry products, candies, vegetables and fries.