1. food and drink
2. beverages

NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE
MARKET OVERVIEW
APRIL 2015
STRATEGIC & CAPITAL ADVISORY FOR CONSUMER COMPANIES
WWW.CODYPEAKADV.COM
Page 2
NATURAL PRODUCTS – OVERALL MARKET SIZE , GROWTH & SEGMENTATION
NATURAL PRODUCTS - NATURAL RETAIL
$ BILLIONS
NATURAL PRODUCTS – CONVENTIONAL RETAIL
$ BILLIONS
$45.4
$44.0
$41.2
$39.7
$37.4
$34.3
$36.0
$32.3
2010
2011
2012
2013
2010
CHANNEL SEGMENTATION
Practioners,
$3.9
2012
2013
Y-O-Y CHANNEL GROWTH
$ BILLIONS
Internet,
$4.0
2011
Mail Order,
$3.5
Internet
15.0%
Conv. Retail
Multilevel
Marketing,
$8.7
Natural
Retail, $45.4
10.7%
Natural Retail
10.3%
Practioners
10.2%
Mail Order
Conventional
Retail, $44.0
8.7%
MLM
5.7%
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE – PRODUCT SHARE & GROWTH – NATURAL PRODUCT STORES ONLY
PRODUCT SHARE
Y-O-Y GROWTH BY PRODUCT CATEGORY
$ BILLIONS
Meat, Fish,
Poultry, $1.7
Snack Foods,
$2.5
Condiments,
$1.1
15.8% 15.4%
Supplements
, $12.7
Dairy, $3.2
Beverages,
$5.3
12.3% 11.8%
11.5%
9.5% 9.3%
Pkg /
Prepared
Foods, $3.4
Breads &
Grains, $3.6
13.0%
Prsnl Care /
Other, $6.1
Fruits &
Veggies, $5.9
Chart Sources: Natural Foods Merchandiser – 2014 Market Overview
8.7%
7.9%
Page 3
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE TRENDS
EXPO WEST 2015
SHOW OBSERVATIONS



DOLLAR SHARES OF LEADING ALLERGEN-FREE
CATEGORIES
Other,
24.0%
Baking
Mixes,
25.0%
The 35th annual Natural Products Expo West – the world’s
largest natural food show - took place March 4 – 8 in
Anaheim, California
This year’s show attendance was a record and up 7.2% from
last year, as there were approximately 71,000 attendees and
more than 2,700 exhibitors
Summary observations from the show are as follows:
 Bars and more bars - they appear to be the delivery
format for all types of ingredient and flavor
combinations
 Flavored water concoctions continue to expand –
whether its maple, watermelon, artichoke, olive or
cactus, they add flavor and functional benefits
 Protein is king – protein fortification is spanning across a
greater number of product categories
 Snacks versus meals – people are busy and have less
time to eat, so nutritious snack products / exhibitors far
outweighed those of other product categories
 Knowing the source – strong focus on label transparency
and raw material origins
Y-O-Y GROWTH OF LARGEST NON-GMO CATEGORIES
26.7%
16.4%
Frzn.
Entrees,
9.0%
14.6%
Cookies &
Bars,
17.0%
8.1%
1.6%
Chips,
Pretzels &
Snacks,
11.0%
SS Salsa &
Dips,
14.0%
Chips,
Pretzels &
Snacks
FASTEST GROWING CERTIFICATIONS & LABEL TRENDS
Pkgd Fresh RF Dairy-free Nuts, Seeds Cold Cereals
Produce
Bev.
Dried Fruit
NATURAL RETAIL VS. CONVENTIONAL RETAIL
RELATIVE GROWTH STATISTICS
11.0%
Paleo Positioned
179.0%
Grassfed
9.0%
46.0%
6.0%
Pasture Raised
30.0%
Ancient Grains
28.0%
Animal Welfare
Fair Trade
1.0%
24.0%
-0.5% -0.5%
17.0%
Natural Retail
Vegan
14.0%
Dollar Growth
Chart Sources: SPINS LLC
Conventional Retail
Unit Growth
Same-store Dollar Growth
Page 4
RETAIL OVERVIEW - NATURAL PRODUCT STORES ONLY
NATURAL PRODUCTS RETAIL
DOLLAR SHARE / STORE FORMAT
NATURAL PRODUCTS RETAIL
SUPERNATURAL / CHAIN MARKET SHARES
($ in billions)
28.3%
$19.4
$26.0
4.0%
Independents
Whole
Foods
Supernatural / Chain
Chart Sources: Natural Foods Merchandiser – 2014 Market Overview
Sprouts
3.8%
GNC
2.1%
Vitamin
Shoppe
1.0%
0.5%
Natural
Grocers
Vitamin
World
SUPERNATURAL / CHAIN COMPARISONS
Chain
LTM
Sales - $ mm
# of
Stores
Avg.
Sq. Foot
Sales /
Sq. Foot
Same Store Sales
– Lt. Qtr.
$14,400
408
40,000
$882
4.5%
$3,000
195
27,500
$434
8.5%
$2,600
6,707
2,000
$195
2.8%
$1,800
168
21,200
$500
3.0%
$1,200
717
3,600
$465
2.8%
$799
15
60,000
$887
-3.1%
$546
92
11,000
$540
3.4%
PROJECTED ANNUAL SALES GROWTH BY STORE FORMAT
RETAIL CHANNEL DYNAMICS
2013- 2018E
Fresh Format
E-Commerce
Limited Assortment
Dollar
Wholesale Club
Supercenter
Super Warehouse
Other (Sm. Grocery)
Convenience
Drug
Convenience (without Gas)
Military
Traditional Supermarkets
Mass
Chart Sources: Willard Bishop
12.1%
•
Natural, specialty and limited assortment stores are taking
share from conventional formats, but conventional formats
are increasing their natural offerings, particularly through
private label programs targeting the entire store
•
Club stores have carved out a niche and are taking share
across all formats
•
Supernatural concepts such as Whole Foods and Sprouts are
rolling out different store formats to target the “crossover”
natural customer
•
Natural independents are still growing by serving the core
natural customer on a regional basis
9.5%
5.9%
4.1%
3.5%
3.0%
3.0%
2.1%
2.1%
2.0%
1.9%
1.7%
0.4%
-6.0%
Page 5
SUPPLY CHAIN OVERVIEW - NATURAL PRODUCT STORES ONLY
LEADING NATURAL / SPECIALTY WHOLESALERS - $ MM
NATURAL RETAIL SUPPLY CHAIN
$7,560
Private
Label, 3.0%
Other Store
Operation,
0.4%
Direct from
Mfr., 30.0%
$2,800
$890
UNFI
KeHE
DPI
$650
$600
Haddon
House
Lipari
$250
Market
Center
Local
Growers,
10.0%
Distributors,
57.0%
Chart Sources: Natural Foods Merchandiser – 2014 Market Overview
LEADING NATURAL / SPECIALTY WHOLESALER DISTRIBUTION FOOTPRINTS
SUPPLY CHAIN DYNAMICS

Conventional distributors are supplying high volume SKU’s, but there is
increasing pressure on the supply chain to keep up with the industry growth
and aggressive /national expansion plans of natural/specialty retailers

Capital investments to expand wholesalers’ capacity and reach are increasing
at a time when retailers are looking for tighter margins from their
wholesalers and indirectly the manufacturers

Wholesaler consolidation will continue, as economies of scale are needed to
adequately serve the growth and demands of the channel
Page 6
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE – PUBLIC STOCK PERFORMANCE - 12 MONTHS ENDING MARCH 31, 2015
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE
RELATIVE STOCK PERFORMANCE
NATURAL F&B VS. CONVENTIONAL F&B VS. S&P500
+40%
+35%
+30%
+25%
+20%
+15%
+10%
+5%
+0%
-5%
-10%
-15%
32.8%
55.4%
45.5%
40.1%
23.8%
19.2%
9.8%
10.4%
-45.9%
WWAV
Natural F&B
Conventional F&B
LWAY
HAIN
BDBD
Avg. Nat. Avg. Con.
F&B
F&B
S&P 500
Chart Source: Capital IQ & Cody Peak research
Chart Sources: Capital IQ / Cody Peak M&A database
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE - PUBLIC VALUATION MULTIPLES - 12 MONTHS ENDING MARCH 31, 2015
NATURAL F&B VS. CONVENTIONAL F&B
NATURAL F&B VS. CONVENTIONAL F&B
MEDIAN EV / LTM REVENUE
MEDIAN EV / LTM EBITDA
Natural F&B
2.8x
Conventional F&B
Natural F&B
24.2x
Conventional F&B
2.5x
15.0x
Chart Sources: Capital IQ / Cody Peak M&A database
VALUATION OVERVIEW
MARKET DATA ($ MILLIONS)
Price
03/31/15
Company ($ mm)
Ticker
Natural
Boulder Brands, Inc.
Fairway Group Holdings Corp.
GNC Holdings Inc.
Lifeway Foods Inc.
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc.
Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.
The Fresh Market, Inc.
The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.
The WhiteWave Foods Company
United Natural Foods, Inc.
Vitamin Shoppe, Inc.
Whole Foods Market, Inc.
NasdaqGS:BDBD
NasdaqGM:FWM
NYSE:GNC
NasdaqGM:LWAY
NYSE:NGVC
NasdaqGS:SFM
NasdaqGS:TFM
NasdaqGS:HAIN
NYSE:WWAV
NasdaqGS:UNFI
NYSE:VSI
NasdaqGS:WFM
Price
Performance
LTM
$9.53
6.77
49.07
21.39
27.61
35.23
40.64
64.05
44.34
77.04
41.19
52.08
Median Natural F&B
Median Natural Retail & Distribution
Total Median
Notes:
NA = Data Not Available
NM = Data Not Meaningful
LTM = Last Twelve Months
CY = Calendar Year
-45.9%
-11.4%
11.5%
45.5%
-36.8%
-2.2%
21.0%
40.1%
55.4%
8.6%
-13.3%
2.7%
Equity
Value
$584
295
4,311
350
$621
5,368
1,972
6,515
7,734
3,858
1,272
18,789
Firm
Value
$859
513
5,520
352
$647
5,644
1,957
7,255
9,233
4,385
1,268
18,115
1 Yr Est.
Growth
Rate
EV / LTM
Sales
EBITDA
EBITDA
Margin
7.1%
3.4%
4.3%
15.0%
20.4%
21.9%
12.4%
24.3%
11.1%
21.9%
9.3%
10.9%
1.7x
0.6x
2.1x
3.0x
1.2x
1.9x
1.1x
2.9x
2.7x
0.6x
1.0x
1.2x
14.5x
NM
11.3x
45.9x
14.9x
22.0x
10.4x
24.6x
23.7x
15.7x
8.6x
13.4x
11.5%
-0.5%
18.7%
6.5%
8.0%
8.6%
10.7%
11.9%
11.3%
3.7%
12.1%
9.2%
42.8%
0.2%
13.1%
11.6%
2.8x
1.2x
24.2x
13.4x
11.4%
8.9%
5.7%
11.8%
1.5x
14.9x
10.0%
Page 7
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE – M&A MARKET OVERVIEW
TRANSACTION VOLUME
TRANSACTION MIX / COMPANY TYPE
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE
Wholesaler,
6.5%
35
Bakery,
2.6%
Beverages,
15.6%
Fruits &
Veggies,
2.6%
Supplement
s, 7.8%
13
15
Snacks,
14.3%
9
5
2011
2012
2013
2014
Ingredients,
1.3%
Retailer,
9.1%
YTD 2015
Pet Food,
7.8%
Prepared
Foods,
26.0%
Protein,
6.5%
Chart Sources: Capital IQ / Cody Peak M&A database / Pitchbook
EV / REVENUE
EV / EBITDA
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE – 2011– YTD 2015
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE – 2011 – YTD 2015
1.86x
14.69x
1.22x
1.11x
10.80x
9.00x
Mean
Median
Median - All F&B
Mean
Median
Median - All F&B
Chart Sources: Capital IQ / Cody Peak M&A database / Pitchbook
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE - FINANCING MARKET OVERVIEW
FINANCING VOLUME
FINANCING MIX / STAGE
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE
Angel / Seed
Growth Equity
Debt
22
Early VC
Corporate
Late VC
Secondary / Public
19
11
11
6
2011
2012
2013
2014
Chart Sources: Capital IQ / Cody Peak M&A database / Pitchbook
YTD 2015
2011
2012
2013
2014
YTD 2015
Page 8
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE – RECENT M&A TRANSACTIONS
Total
Closed
Dated
Transaction
Target/Issuer
03/16/2015 MonaVie
03/04/2015 Empire Kosher Poultry,
Inc.
$
$
02/16/2015 Enjoy Life Foods, LLC
$
Beverages
Producer and marketer of organic health food products. The
company develops and markets scientifically formulated nutritional
products for person-to-person distribution and direct selling.
72.00 Hain Celestial Group,
Inc. (NASDAQ:
HAIN),
Protein
Offers a full range of kosher antibiotic- and hormone-free chicken
and turkey products including fresh tray pack, frozen, deli, fully
cooked, gluten-free and organic products.
$ 100.00
0.72x
13.30 SunOpta Inc.
Beverages
Offers private label not-from-concentrate orange juice. It also offers
citrus procurement, grove management and cultivation and quality
analysis.
$
30.00
0.44x
Snacks
Engages in the production and supply of snacks that are free from
allergens, such as wheat/gluten, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg,
soy, fish, casein, potato, sesame, sulfites, and shellfish worldwide.
Snacks
Produces and sells super premium, processed meat snacks.
$
35.00
Wholesaler
Distributor of fast-growing Natural/Organic/Vegetarian foods to
health food stores among others.
Supplements
Provides essential supplements which contain vitamins, minerals
and nutritional therapeutic specific response formulas.
$
75.00
$
57.00
-
210.00 The Hershey Company Alliance Consumer
(NYSE:HSY)
Growth
12/17/2014 FoodState
Pharmavite LLC,
12/07/2014 Nature's Pantry
Natural Grocers by
Vitamin Cottage
Retailer
Retailer of natural foods. The company provides gluten-free foods,
dietary supplements, health drinks and health bars.
11/21/2014 Noosa Yoghurt, LLC
Advent International
Corporation
Prepared Foods
Offers yogurt in honey, blueberry, mango, raspberry, peach,
passion fruit, and lemon flavors.
Ingredients
Importer and distributor of healthy ingredients, such as specialty
grains, nuts, dried fruits and other commodity products for the nut
roasting, health food, health food and ingredient industries.
11/14/2014 Gardein Protein
$
10/31/2014 Lipari Foods
10/31/2014 Turtle Mountain, LLC
10/21/2014 Annie's, Inc.
10/14/2014 Isopure
10/02/2014 PowerBar
2x Consumer Products
Growth Partners, The
Riverside Company
191.00 Archer Daniels
Midland
Babson Capital
Management, Goldner
Hawn Johnson &
Morrison
157.60 Pinnacle Foods, Inc.
TSG Consumer Partners Prepared Foods
Sterling Investment
Partners
$
$
$
$
10/01/2014 Angie's Artisan Treats, LLC
09/04/2014 Sahale Snacks, Inc.
Rapidly growing manufacturer of the plant-based protein brand
gardein,
$170.00
Prepared Foods
Produces and delivers dairy free frozen desserts, beverages, and
creamers.
$ 115.00
-
1.70x
823.01 General Mills, Inc.
(NYSE:GIS)
Gabelli Fund, LDC;
SSgA Funds
Management, Inc.;
Wells Fargo Funds
Management, LLC;
TimesSquare Capital
Management, LLC
Encore Consumer
Capital
Prepared Foods
Produces, markets, and distributes natural and organic food
products. It offers approximately 145 products in a variety of
categories.
$ 208.08
$ 21.29
3.96x
Supplements
Producer and distributor of nutrition products focusing on the sports
industry, including health powders, beverages and supplements.
$
Nestle
Prepared Foods
Supplier of performance energy bars, harvest energy bars,
proteinplus protein bars, pria nutritional snack bars, energy bites,
powergel energy gels, beverage system and proteinplus carb
select.
Sherbrooke Capital
Snacks
Produces and sells classic, caramel, lite, and white cheddar kettle
corn through its online store; and through co-operatives, and health
food and retail stores in the United States.
Palladium Equity
Partners
Snacks
Production and marketing of nuts and dried fruits snacks, including
nut and fruit mixes, nut blends, premium blends, glazed nuts, and
crunchers.
-
Beverages
Produces natural iced ready-to-drink (RTD) white teas in New
Jersey and New York.
153.00 Glanbia, plc
150.00 Post Holdings
- TPG Growth
$
TA Associates
Snacks
Marketer of packaged popcorn products. Available in multiple
flavors, SkinnyPop tries to make products that are “skinny on
ingredients” while also only using non-GMO and major allergen-free
ingredients.
08/18/2014 Nature's Best, Inc.
KeHE Distributors LLC
Wholesaler
Largest distributor of natural and organic products sold to
independent and chain retailers in the Western United States.
Bakery
Produces cookies, cookie and bar towers, gift baskets, gluten-free
desserts, bars and brownies, pies and cakes, breakfast treats, and
cookbooks and accessories.
$
Beverages
Produces Muscle Milk® products, the No. 1 brand in the ready-todrink protein beverage category.
Beverages
Mighty Leaf Tea Company produces and distributes tea products,
including black, green, white, oolong, organic, decaffeinated,
rooibos, mate, pu-erh, iced, and herb and fruited tea in the form of
loose tea and tea pouches.
08/12/2014 CytoSport Holdings, Inc
08/01/2014 Mighty Leaf Tea
Company
$
2.76x
195.00 The WhiteWave Foods Wasserstein & Co., LP
Company
(NYSE:WWAV)
- Braintrust
Investments, LLC
$
6.00x
One of the largest specialty distributors in the Midwest, serving
small and mid-sized grocery chains 18,000 SKU's for the perimeter
of the store.
08/19/2014 SkinnyPop Popcorn LLC
08/18/2014 Tate's Bake Shop, Inc.
-
Wholesaler
- The J. M. Smucker
Company
(NYSE:SJM)
09/02/2014 Inko's LLC
TV /
EBITDA
Partnership Capital
Growth Advisors, TSG
Consumer Partners
Lipari Foods
$
TV /
Business Description [Target/Issuer]
12/30/2014 Soderholm Wholesale
Foods
11/18/2014 Specialty Commodities
LTM
Subsector
Mondelez
International, Inc.
(NasdaqGS:MDLZ)
Revenue
EBITDA Revenue
Sellers
Jeunesse Global
03/02/2015 Citrusource
01/31/2015 Krave Pure Foods, Inc.
LTM
Value ($mm) Buyers/Investors
105.00 The Riverside
Company
-
450.00 Hormel Foods
- Peet's Coffee & Tea,
Inc.; Next World
Group
VMG Partners
Chart Sources: Capital IQ / Cody Peak M&A database / Pitchbook
74.60
38.66x
2.05x
-
-
50.00
-
-
-
30.00 $
8.00
3.50x
13.13x
$ 370.00
$ 30.00
1.22x
15.00x
-
-
Page 9
NATURAL FOOD & BEVERAGE – RECENT FINANCINGS
Closing
Date
Company Name
Total
Financing
Raised ($ mm)
3/16/15
Healthy Life Brands
$
0.10 Angel / Seed Undiclosed
Prepared Foods
3/16/15
JuiceRx Cleanse
$
0.07 Angel / Seed Undisclosed
Beverages
3/12/15
Mouth Foods
$
0.31
2/24/15
Wholesome Valley Foods
(Barnana)
2/23/15
True Drinks
$
2/19/15
Kill Cliff
2/5/15
Financing
Type
Investors
Subsector
Description
Producer of vegetable fries. The company offers carrot, broccoli,
chickpeas and red peppers, and Tuscan beans and herbs crispy
fries.
Provider of a range of organic juice. The company offers raw,
soy-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free juice cleanses with delivery
to the consumer's door.
Early VC
Cherubic Ventures, Joanne Wilson, VegasTechFund,
Vocap Investment Partners
Retailer
Online retailer of small batch, handmade, organic, gluten free
and other packaged specialty foods.
Early VC
BFG Partners, Finn Capital Partners, Foundry Group,
V3 Capital Partners
Snacks
Producer of organic snacks that are non-GMO, gluten free and
kosher.
1.50
Early VC
Toba Capital Management
Beverages
Markets AquaBall™, a naturally flavored, vitamin-enhanced,
zero-calorie, dye-free, sugar-free alternative to juice and soda.
$
7.30
Early VC
Keel Group, Sherbrooke Capital
Beverages
Producer and marketer of a supplementary beverage for
athletes.
Suja Juice
$
20.00
Corporate
Evolution Media Partners
Beverages
Produces juice and smoothie products. It distributes its product
through stores and whole foods markets.
2/5/15
Olykraut
$
0.03 Angel / Seed Undisclosed
Prepared Foods
Provider of handcrafted pro-biotic food. The company combines
local produce and original recipes to create fermented vegetable
products.
1/28/15
Earth Equity Farms
Angel / Seed Undisclosed
Fruits & Veggies
Operates a vertically-integrated grower and marketer of certified
organic and fair trade fruits and vegetables market.
1/14/15
Rosa Labs
$
20.00
Early VC
Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Lerer Hippeau
Ventures
Beverages
Creator of a beverage designed to be a complete mealreplacement product for all adults.
1/12/15
Daily Greens
$
3.00
Early VC
WhiteWave Food Co.
Beverages
Makes cold-pressed green juice and hemp milk products
through HPP process.
12/9/14
Spindrift Beverage
$
1.00
Early VC
Prolog Ventures, 819 Capital, New Ground Ventures,
RiverPark Ventures, Warbros Venture Partners
Beverages
Producer of seltzers and sodas with fresh squeezed fruits.
11/25/14
Twinlab (TLCC)
11/10/14
BeetNPath
$
0.72
Early VC
KensaGroup, Rand Capital
10/31/14
Everly
$
0.50
Early VC
Chattanooga Renaissance Fund, InCrowd Capital,
Nashville Entrepreneur Centre, NueCura Partners
10/31/14
Thrive Frozen Nutrition
$
4.20
Early VC
Florida Opportunity Fund, Stonehenge Capital
Company, venVelo
9/30/14
Muufri
$
2.06 Angel / Seed Bill Liao, Cyril Ebersweiler, Horizons Ventures,
SOSventures, SynBio axlr8r
Beverages
9/26/14
Exo
$
1.20 Angel / Seed AccelFoods, Collaborative Fund, Start Garden
Prepared Foods
Producer of protein bars made from cricket flour with organic
ingredients such as raw cacao, dates, almond butter and
coconut.
9/25/14
Red Rabbit
$
0.31
Prepared Foods
Offers healthy meal programs to charter schools with a choice
of breakfast, lunch and snacks.
9/8/14
Ambro Group
8/19/14
Sprouts Farmers Market
(SFM)
$
8/11/14
Health Warrior
$
7/28/14
Beyond Meat
Late VC
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Obvious, Union
Grove Partners
7/8/14
Bare Snacks
Late VC
VMG Partners
7/7/14
Nutrabolt
Growth
Equity
MidOcean Partners
Debt
Early VC
Capstone Financial Group, Penta Mezzanine Fund
Kapor Capital
Angel / Seed Dig Eat All, Makery, Rocket Space, Startup Sauna
514.70 Secondary / Apollo Global Management, Silver Canyon Group
Public
3.36 Angel / Seed New Ground Ventures, New Richmond Ventures
Chart Sources: Capital IQ / Cody Peak M&A database / Pitchbook
Supplements
Offers the products which includes a complete line of vitamins,
minerals, nutraceuticals, herbs and sports nutrition products.
Prepared Foods
Provider of natural frozen food made with steel cut oats, clean
natural ingredients.
Beverages
Produces drink mixes with simple and natural ingredients that
are enhanced with nutrient blends and are calorie free.
Prepared Foods
Beverages
Makes and markets an ice cream product that contains
nutritional elements similar to those found in liquid nutrition
shakes, including protein, calcium and probiotic ingredients.
Produces synthetic milk from yeast cultures and adds calcium
and potassium and emulsify the mixture into milk.
Manufacturer of organic drinkable supermeal.
Fruits & Veggies
Retailer of farm fresh produce purchased from local growers, as
well as markets vitamins, supplements, natural meats and other
grocery items.
Prepared Foods
Maker of a brand of nutrition bars with chia seeds as the
primary ingredient.
Prepared Foods
Focuses on replacing animal protein with plant protein, by
developing meat substitutes for chicken and beef. Its products
include seasoned strips, grilled strips and a variety of crumbles.
Snacks
Supplements
Maker of 100% Natural and Organic Bare Fruit® Apple Chips
and Fruit Snack.
Developer and distributor of sports nutrition products sold within
leading sports nutrition retailers in North America and
internationally.
Page 10
CODY PEAK CASE STUDY – KEHE DISTRIBUTORS ACQUIRES NATURE’S BEST, INC.
TRANSACTION OVERVIEW

On July 18, 2014, KeHE Distributors announced that it had
entered into an agreement to acquire Nature’s Best

Nature’s Best, through two LEED® Gold Certified
warehouses located in Chino, CA and Flower Mound, TX, is
the largest independent / family owned distributor of
health and natural food products in the United States

KeHE Distributors, LLC (KeHE) provides natural & organic,
specialty & gourmet, international & multicultural and
fresh products to natural food stores, chain grocery stores,
independent grocery stores and other specialty product
retailers throughout North America.
STRATEGIC RATIONALE

Strengthens KeHE’s position within the natural and
organic channel, thus providing a more compelling
alternative to UNFI for manufacturers and retailers

Provides access to leading independent and chain
accounts in the West, the largest natural and organic
market in the United States

Enhances primary distributor relationship with Sprouts
Farmers Market, the second largest and fastest growing
natural food retailer in the United States

Improves KeHE’s value proposition to and private label
offering with independent natural accounts through
highly respected Cadia product line
DISTRIBUTION FOOTPRINTS
“After years of charting a course for the family business, we
took the same deliberate care in selecting an advisor – the
Cody Peak team was a perfect fit. Their ability to guide our
family to a balance between our passion and the rigors of
the M&A process was crucial. Their strategic selection and
evaluation of industry buyers, plus their positioning of
Nature’s Best was spot on.”
Jim Beck
CEO, Nature’s Best, Inc.
ABOUT CODY PEAK ADVISORS
CONTACT
Cody Peak Advisors is an independent strategic and capital
advisory firm that focuses exclusively on the consumer sector. Our
senior professionals have completed over 100 transactions with
an aggregated value in excess of $7 billion.
Cody Peak Advisors, LLC
201 Continental Blvd, Suite 220
El Segundo, California 90245
www.codypeakadv.com
We have a successful track record of helping middle market
branded and non-branded consumer manufacturing, marketing
and distribution companies strategically unlock and enhance value
through mergers, acquisitions and financings.
Robert J. Parzick
Managing Director
310.616.0782
bparzick@codypeakadv.com
Jacques A. Perrone
Managing Director
310.616.0781
jperrone@codypeakadv.com
This report is for information purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation with respect to any purchase or sale of any security. Cody Peak Advisors, LLC gathers
its data from sources it considers reliable; however, it does not guarantee the accuracy of completeness of the information provided within this publication. The opinions
presented herein reflect the current judgment of the authors and are subject to change. Cody Peak Advisors, LLC makes no warranties, expressed or implied, regarding the
accuracy of this information or the subjective opinions expressed by the authors. Cody Peak Advisors, LLC, its officers, directors and partners may at any time have positions in
the securities of the companies discussed herein.
April 2015
Copyright© 2015 Cody Peak Advisors, LLC., all rights reserved.