KANSAS CITY — General Mills, Inc. has acquired the assets of Gladstone Food Products, which makes products under the La Tiara brand. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, though several media reports put the purchase price at approximately $10 million.
“General Mills has acquired the assets of Gladstone Food Products, the manufacturer of La Tiara hard taco shells,” said Mollie Wulff, spokesperson at General Mills. “We look forward to welcoming the well-loved La Tiara brand to the General Mills family of brands.”
Gladstone, Mo.-based Gladstone Food Products halted operations in January, citing construction-related disruptions and costs. The company was put into receivership on March 18, with a live final auction held on May 19.
Media reports suggested that more than 40 companies expressed interest in acquiring Gladstone Food Products, which was founded in 1967. In addition to taco shells, La Tiara makes taco seasoning.
General Mills is active in the taco shell and seasoning space through its Old El Paso brand, which it acquired as part of its acquisition of the Pillsbury division of Diageo PLC in 2001. General Mills ranks third in the hard/soft tortillas/taco kits category with dollar sales of $469.43 million in the 52 weeks ended April 20, according to Circana, a Chicago-based market research firm. Mission Foods Inc. leads the category with dollar sales of $1.71 billion, followed by Gruma Corp.’s Guerrero brand with sales of $639.32 million.
