US food company Tattooed Chef has agreed to acquire Foods of New Mexico for approximately $35 million, as it looks to boost its Mexican plant-based foods offerings.
Foods of New Mexico is comprised of New Mexico Food Distributors and Karsten Tortilla Factory, and the deal will give Tattooed Chef access to two manufacturing facilities totalling 118,000 square-feet.
Founded in 1987, Foods of New Mexico produces ready-to-eat Mexican food products for both retail and food service. The company’s facility in Albuquerque currently manufactures quesadillas, burritos and sauces; while its second factory in Karsten is not yet in operation but will produce tortillas.
The deal will see Tattooed Chef boost its manufacturing capacity and accelerate its expansion outside of frozen food into snacks, and refrigerated and ambient products.
Upon completion, the prepared food company will be able to offer Mexican plant-based foods under its Tattooed Chef brand, which will join its current portfolio of ready-to-cook vegan and vegetarian bowls, zucchini spirals and cauliflower crust pizzas.
“We have seen tremendous growth in the Tattooed Chef brand and these two facilities will allow us to diversify our product lines and significantly increase our manufacturing capabilities to capitalise on the $20 billion Hispanic/Southwest Food sector and beyond,” said Sam Galletti, president and CEO of Tattooed Chef.
“We will be immediately addressing the $1 billion Frozen Mexican Food category once the transactions close. At full capacity, we believe Foods of New Mexico can contribute up to $200 million annually in revenue in the next two to three years and create significant value for all our stakeholders.”
Tattooed Chef says it has a pipeline of different and innovative ideas for the coming months such as alternative tortillas using plant-based ingredients.
Sarah Galletti, founder and chief creative officer of Tattooed Chef, said: “Foods of New Mexico has many of the qualities we were looking for in the next potential target: capacity, expanding product portfolio capabilities, and entering new categories.”
Dennis Carpenter, president of New Mexico Food Distributors, added: “Tattooed Chef has a reputation for innovation, quality, safety and great leadership and we are excited about the future growth prospects of the business. We trust the direction Tattooed Chef will be taking the company and we wish them success in the future.”
The deal is expected to be completed in early May, subject to customary closing conditions.
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