Campbell Soup buys fresh-salsa maker for $231M

Campbell Soup Co., in Camden, says it has agreed to pay $231 million for Garden Fresh Gourmet, a $100 million (yearly sales), 500-employee Ferndale, Mich. company that makes what Campell calls "the no. 1 branded refrigerated salsa in the U.S.," along with packaged tortillas, dips and hummus. 

As readers have noted, Campbell already owns Pace, the Texas company that puts salsa in jars with long shelf life. Perishable Garden Fresh Gourmet sauce is to Pace products what Tastykake is to Hostess Brands, approximately, making this another sign in Campbell's march from someplace in the back pantry to tonight's dinner table.

Campbell ceo Denise Morrison in a statement called the deal "another milestone in reshaping our portfolio toward faster-growing categories, including packaged fresh and organic food." Campbell owns carrot grower, drink, snack and salad-dressing packer Bolthouse Farms, among other brands.

Garden Fresh Gourmet will be combined under its current brand name with Bolthouse and Campbell's 1915 organic juices into the company's Campbell Fresh division (formerly Packaged Fresh) in hopes of boosting Campbell's share of supermarket space in the nearly $20 billion-a-year, fast-growing pre-cut vegetables business. Garden Fresh cofounder Jack Aronson will stay on as a Campbell advisor, the company said.

Other recent Campbell acquisitions on Morrison's watch include Plum organic baby foods and Kelsen, a biscuit maker. Campbell plans to fund the acquisition by selling commercial paper to investors. The company hopes to make money from Garden Fresh as soon as 2016, with the deal closing, pending regulatory approval, late this year. Philadelphia law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP advised Campbell on the deal.