Salinas, CA-based Monterey Pasta Company (MPC) has completed its asset acquisition of Emerald Valley Kitchen, a leading organic food manufacturer located in Eugene, Oregon.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Emerald Valley Kitchen is a 20 year-old natural food company, Its founder and president, Mel Bankoff, will continue to lead it as part of MPC and will help bring MPC into this fast growing segment of the food industry.
MPC paid the Emerald Valley Kitchen shareholders US$5.5m cash for the assets, plus the value of inventory at-cost. Additionally, the shareholders of Emerald Valley could qualify for an earn-out over the next five years if EBITDA exceeds predetermined targets for the Emerald Valley business. Emerald Valley markets a number of refrigerated product categories that are complementary to MPC’s product line, including such key items as Organic Salsa, Organic Bean Dip and Organic Hummus.
MPC explained that the organic food market is attractive for several fundamental reasons. It has been growing by double-digits annually over the past several years, compared with less than 4% annual growth from the retail grocery business over the same period. In October 2002 a new seal will begin appearing on organic foods certifying that they have
been approved ” Organic” by the USDA. Companies like Emerald Valley Kitchen, that can meet these new standards, will have a strategic advantage over many of their current competitors once these new regulations take affect.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalData“Emerald Valley represents an important addition to the MPC family,” said Lance Hewitt, MPC’s president and CEO: “This association gives MPC the opportunity to execute our strategy to become a part of the fast-growing organic food industry with a high-quality product line that complements and extends our current refrigerated product offerings. We believe that by combining our outstanding product development capabilities with theirs, we can work jointly with Emerald Valley in extending their successful product line in the future. Also, our customer relationships on a national scale will be available to help them spread their message of high-quality, organic gourmet foods to a much broader audience through mainstream grocery outlets.”
Hewitt continued, “We are very pleased to be working with Mel Bankoff who will continue to lead the operation at Emerald Valley. Mel is a leader in the organic industry and we believe he is the right person to head our efforts in this area. The Emerald Valley business will work with MPC as a relatively autonomous entity in order to maintain its strong organic focus in the future.”
Bankoff commented: “I look forward to growing the business that I started twenty years ago and assisting MPC with the addition of organic products to their existing line.”
