ORANGE, CALIF. — Private equity firm Wind Point Partners and its portfolio company Stir Foods have acquired Lancaster Fine Foods, Inc. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Lancaster, Pa., Lancaster Fine Foods operates a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility where the company makes private label sauces, dressings and condiments for retail, industrial and foodservice customers.
The acquisition is expected to broaden Stir Foods’ footprint on the East Coast by combining Lancaster’s operations with Stir Foods’ manufacturing plant in Toronto. Stir Foods is a custom manufacturer of soups, sauces, dressings, and fresh salsas for retail, industrial and foodservice customers.
“The cultures and culinary focus of our two companies are very similar, making this a natural partnership,” said Milt Liu, chief executive officer of Stir. “Lancaster brings a great customer base, team and operation to our platform. In addition, Lancaster, combined with our Toronto facility, allows us to efficiently service the entire East Coast market. Furthermore, the facility is well-situated for expansion and future growth. Our plan is to invest in Lancaster and leverage our combined capabilities and customer bases to grow the Lancaster facility into one of our ‘flagship’ locations.”
Mike Thompson, co-founder and CEO of Lancaster, added, “Our team is excited to partner with Milt and the Stir team. There is a strong cultural fit and together, we believe we can unlock even stronger growth at Lancaster and Stir. Our operations are also highly complementary in terms of capabilities that we can bring to our combined customer bases, and with the financial backing of Wind Point, we plan to pursue continued investment in new capabilities to drive growth at the Lancaster facility.”
Wind Point Partners acquired Stir Foods in December 2017 in partnership with Mr. Liu. Since that time, Stir Foods has expanded with four acquisitions. In addition to Lancaster, the company has acquired Celtrade Canada, a private label and contract manufacturer of custom sauces, dressings and condiments for retail and foodservice customers (February 2020); Van Law Food Products, a contract manufacturer and private label manufacturer of custom sauces, dressings and beverage products for CPG, retail and foodservice customers (March 2019); and Sabra’s salsa business unit (September 2018).