Finance & Investment

PepsiCo Acquiring Bare Snacks to Add Fruit, Veggie Chips to Its Better-For-You Portfolio

Just days after sharing that it is partnering with a Chicago-based incubator to help scale food and beverage startups, PepsiCo has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Bare Foods Co, as Bare Snacks, the U.S.-based fruit and vegetable snack company has grown from farmers’ markets in Washington to a nationall

By Sustainable Brands | Published 6 years ago | About a 3 minute read

Just days after sharing that it is partnering with a Chicago-based incubator to help scale food and beverage startups, PepsiCo has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Bare Foods Co, as Bare Snacks, the U.S.-based fruit and vegetable snack company has grown from farmers’ markets in Washington to a nationally available brand.

Bare Snacks was founded in 2001 by a family-owned organic apple farm in Washington that began selling packaged baked apple chips in local farmers’ markets. Under its current leadership team, it has expanded steadily to become the leader in apple, banana and coconut snacks, and has recently expanded into vegetable chips.

“We are thrilled to work with the PepsiCo team to further our mission of bringing simplicity to snacking,” said Santosh Padki, CEO of Bare Foods. “With a shared passion for crunchy, better-for-you snacks, PepsiCo is the right partner to help bring our simply baked fruit and vegetable snacks to even more consumers across the world and continue to grow our brand.”

To date, Bare Snacks products have been Non-GMO Project verified, featured clean labels and been sold both online and through retail channels such as Target, Starbucks and Whole Foods across the country. Upon the acquisition’s closing, Bare Snacks will continue to operate independently from its headquarters in San Francisco, maintaining its commitments to make products from simple ingredients that are baked, not fried. Its leadership will report into PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay North America division.

“Bare premium baked fruit and vegetable chips are an exciting expansion of Frito-Lay’s better-for-you snack offerings,” said Vivek Sankaran, president and chief operating officer for Frito-Lay North America. “While we will continue to offer the current Bare Snacks product line, we look forward to working with the Bare Snacks team to deliver new, innovative options, and ultimately expanded distribution, to meet the ever-growing consumer demands for authentic and nutritious snacks.”

PepsiCo views the transaction as not only a way to expand its snacking portfolio, but also further deliver on its Performance with Purpose agenda to offer “more positive nutrition options” and “help people eat better every day.” Several of the company’s Good For You and Better For You products carry a non-GMO certification, such as Tropicana Pure Premium juices.

“For nearly a dozen years, PepsiCo has been committed to Performance with Purpose, our vision of making more nutritious products, while also reducing added sugars, salt, and saturated fat. Bare Snacks fits perfectly within that vision,” said Indra Nooyi, chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo. “The Bare Snacks leadership team has done an outstanding job building a top-tier organization and a strong brand with authentic roots, and I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Bare Snacks to the PepsiCo family.”