Campbell Soup has entered into an agreement to sell its Garden Fresh Gourmet brand to an affiliate of Fountain of Health USA.
Garden Fresh Gourmet is part of the Campbell Fresh division, which also includes Bolthouse Farms.
As outlined last August as part of a portfolio review, Campbell’s is in the process of divesting both its Campbell Fresh and Campbell International businesses, in a move to increase its focus, significantly reduce debt and strengthen its balance sheet.
The divestiture has come after activist investor Third Point called on Campbell’s to sell up, attacking the company’s “dismal operating performance”.
Instead of selling up, it has focused on its Campbell Snacks and Campbell Meals and Beverages divisions in North America. As a result, the company last year raised its overall cost savings target to $945 million.
Campbell’s said the process to sell Bolthouse Farms and Campbell International are both on track, and it expects to name buyers by the end of July 2019.
Earlier this month, the company announced the sale of its Everett, Washington, refrigerated soup plant that was also part of Campbell Fresh.
Founded in 1998 and acquired by Campbell’s in 2015 for $231 million, Garden Fresh Gourmet makes, sells and distributes hummus, dips and tortilla chips both under the Garden Fresh Gourmet brand and private label products.
The unit is located in Ferndale, Michigan, and also has operations in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
In December, Campbell Soup named Mark Clouse, the former chief executive of Pinnacle Foods, as its new CEO. The company has since offloaded its Habit personalised nutrition business to healthcare company Viome.
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