PITTSBURGH, PA. — TruFood Manufacturing, a US contract manufacturer of Mubadala Capital that specializes in nutrition bars, chocolate and baked granola, will merge with Los Alamitos, Calif.-based Bar Bakers, LLC. Founded in 2013, Bar Bakers has more than 1,000 employees across four manufacturing facilities and two warehouses in California. The company makes nutritional snacks. Investment firm Manna Tree will assist Mubadala Capital, but no other financial terms of the transaction were disclosed.
“The coming together of TruFood and Bar Bakers marks a significant milestone as it strengthens our position in the nutritional snacks market,” said Michael Buick, chief executive officer of TruFood. “As a result, we have expanded our capabilities and portfolio of products and strategically extended our manufacturing footprint to the West Coast. The combined company’s expertise and resources will enable us to better serve our customers and to accelerate our growth opportunities. I am thrilled to welcome Bar Bakers to our family. Their track record of customer partnership and operational excellence align perfectly with our values and vision.”
Buick will oversee the newly combined company while Harold Rothman, founder and CEO of Bar Bakers, will join the TruFood board of directors and Gary Jacobs, president of Bar Bakers, will take over as chief operating officer.
TruFood said the integration process will be carefully conducted to ensure a smooth transition for employees, customers and other stakeholders. TruFood also noted that a new name for the combined company will be communicated as the integration process evolves.
“We see significant value in bringing together TruFood and Bar Bakers to create a single company that has the capabilities and expertise to lead this industry in the years ahead,” said Adnan Azam, executive director at Mubadala Capital. “This transaction reinforces our strong commitment to TruFood and Bar Bakers’ growth strategy as we add network capacity, broaden our production capacity, and expand our position in high growth categories. We are excited to welcome the Bar Bakers team and employees to the Mubadala Capital family as we continue to build a market leader in nutrition snacks.”