CHICAGO — Private equity firm HC Private Investments has launched Artisan Bakery, described as a new bakery “platform” offering a range of baked snacks and desserts.

Artisan Bakery was formed to “bring together innovative bakery and dessert brands under one roof,” Chicago-based HC Private Investments said. Plans call for the new venture to deliver “great-tasting baked goods across all dayparts,” while “merging large-scale capability with the entrepreneurial spirit of each brand” in expanding the portfolio’s reach, the private equity firm said.

“Artisan Bakery is built on a simple but powerful idea: great brands deserve great support,” said Kirk Trofholz, the newly appointed chief executive officer of Artisan Bakery. “We’re bringing together companies with differentiated capabilities and helping them reach new heights through innovation, resources and a collaborative network.”

A seasoned food industry executive, Trofholz has previously worked as CEO of Nielsen-Massey, president of Dawn Foods and president of Barilla North America.

Artisan Bakery, which made its debut earlier this month at the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association (IDDBA) show, has started off with a pair of acquisitions: Snackwerks, a Battle Creek, Mich.-based contract manufacturer of baked snacks, and Specialty Bakers, a 125-year-old commercial bakery in Marysville, Pa., that makes specialty desserts.

Snackwerks produces rotary molded and wire-cut cookies, bites and bars, as well as granolas. The company operates a 40,000-square-foot production facility with three semi-automated production lines and has a 30,000-square-foot off-site warehouse.

Founded in 1901, Specialty Bakers said it specializes in producing premium baked desserts “that are generally difficult to make,” led by ladyfingers but also including French twirls (crème horns), dessert shells and cake rolls. Its desserts are sold in about 90% of US supermarket chains, with distribution to all 50 states as well as internationally to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.