Popcornopolis has been bought from Grupo Bimbo’s U.S. snack segment Barcel USA.
Multinational bakery firm, Grupo Bimbo, has bought Popcornopolis by NexPhase Capital for an undisclosed amount. William Blair behave as financial advisor to NexPhase and Popcornopolis in the deal, and Lowenstein Sandler LLP acted as legal advisor. The gourmet popcorn producer from California has crossed $72 million in sales to date due to record growth in e-commerce according to PitchBook and is currently working as Grupo Bimbo’s U.S. snacks division Barcel USA upon the transaction.
The purchase price is around $200 million, as per industry insiders. In 2017 Hershey HSY acquired SkinnyPop’s parent Amplify Snack Brands for $1.6 billion, which is the rate of a 6.3x multiple.
Fastest Growing Ready-To-Eat Popcorn In Retail
The entrepreneur Wally along with Kathy Arnold, launched Popcornopolis in 2003. The company is famous for its cone-shaped package and tasty ready-to-eat snacks, such as Zebra, Unicorn, and Double Drizzle.
NexPhase Capital, a P.E. firm that focuses on investing in the lower middle segment in healthcare, consumer, and software, has backed its popcorn business in 2019 to expand its distribution into the drug, food, and mass channels expand its DTC business. The plan to expand Popcornopolis into the daily snacks aisle has enabled the brand to grow to become the fastest-growing ready-to-eat popcorn available in retail.
“We are prominent to have been a part of Popcornopolis’ remarkable growth over the past two years,” said Jamie Kaufman, a partner at NexPhase. “With Popcornopolis’ focus on quality, innovation and omnichannel sales, the brand will be an excellent addition to Barcel USA’s impressive snack portfolio.”
Danny Simon, the CEO of Popcornopolis, believes that the brand has just begun to realize its potential. His team is planning to quickly increase its fan base by using Barcel America’s snacking platform. “We are grateful for our fantastic partnership with the NexPhase team, whose consistent support and strategic guidance have been instrumental to the exceptional growth of this brand,” Simon stated. Uptick In Consumer Interest Drives Category Growth
Mintel INTC analysts previously noted that a steady increase in the consumption of popcorn has helped boost the category’s sales to retail by more than 32 percent between 2012 and 2017 and how this momentum will continue to propel transactions and encourage new players into the market.
Additionally, ConAgra’s CAG earlier $249.8 million purchase of Angie’s Artisan Treats in 2017, the owner of Kernel Season’s Chicago Custom Foods LLC. was purchased in the same year by The C.F. Sauer Company in 2020 for an undetermined amount.
For new companies, DTC microwaveable popcorn startup Opopop recently secured an initial $5 million Series of funding that Valor Siren Ventures led before the company’s official launch in June. The company also has participation from investors from other sources, including RXBar and Litani Ventures’ founder Peter Rahal and world-renowned D.J. Tiesto.
The Jonas Brothers recently debuted Rob’s Backstage Popcorn through a joint partnership with the Omnichannel CPG platform The Naked Market.
The new launches are expected to boost the $2.3 billion U.S. popcorn production market to even higher. Research firm for market research, Million Insights, predicts that the world’s popcorn market will expand by a 9.4 percent CAGR from 2021 and 2028, which will reach $6.42 billion in revenues at the close of the forecast.
