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Kraft Heinz Completes Acquisition of Majority Stake in Just Spices, a Technology-Enabled Direct-to-Consumer Business
Pittsburgh, Chicago, Wednesday, January 19, 2022
The Kraft Heinz Company (Nasdaq: KHC) (“Kraft Heinz”) announced today that it has completed its acquisition of an 85% stake in Germany-based Just Spices GmbH (“Just Spices”). The remaining 15% ownership stake has been retained by Just Spices’ three founders, who will continue on with the company and focus on driving the business and its international growth. The proposed deal was first announced on Dec. 10, 2021.
Launched in 2014, Just Spices is an innovative start-up, trailblazing the high-growth taste elevation category with annual sales of approximately €60 million. Its 170-plus product portfolio includes spice blends, salad dressings, easy-to-prepare “In Minutes” blends, and organic offerings for diverse meal occasions ranging from breakfast and light snacks to salads and baking, with a broad range of savory, sweet, classic, and exotic flavors. Just Spices’ growing business sells approximately 70% of its ready-made and one-step spice blends directly to consumers, with its remaining sales through major grocery retailers both in-store and online in Germany, Spain, Austria, and Switzerland.
“In 2021, we announced four acquisitions to further accelerate our growth agenda and our ambition to be No. 1 in taste elevation around the world,” said Rafael Oliveira, EVP & President, International Markets at Kraft Heinz. “These include our acquisition of a majority stake in Just Spices, along with our intention to acquire a majority stake of the outstanding equity interests in Brazilian food company Hemmer, our investment in BR Spices in Brazil, and our acquisition of Assan Foods in Turkey. With Just Spices, we will leverage Kraft Heinz’s scale and agility to accelerate the business in the fast-growing taste elevation market beyond the company’s current German base and its recent market entries in Spain, Austria, and Switzerland. We also see tremendous potential to further strengthen and enhance Kraft Heinz’s own direct-to-consumer operations and go-to-market expansion.”
“We are extremely excited by the expansion opportunity that comes from combining Just Spices’ innovation and brand power with the Kraft Heinz team and the scale and knowledge of international markets they bring to the table,” said Florian Falk, Just Spices CEO and one of the company’s three founders.
About the Kraft Heinz Company
We are driving transformation at The Kraft Heinz Company (Nasdaq: KHC), inspired by our Purpose, Let's Make Life Delicious. Consumers are at the center of everything we do. With 2020 net sales of approximately $26 billion, we are committed to growing our iconic and emerging food and beverage brands on a global scale. We leverage our scale and agility to unleash the full power of Kraft Heinz across a portfolio of six consumer-driven product platforms. As global citizens, we're dedicated to making a sustainable, ethical impact while helping feed the world in healthy, responsible ways. Learn more about our journey by visiting www.kraftheinzcompany.com or following us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
About Just Spices
Just Spices was founded in Dusseldorf by Florian Falk, Ole Strohschnieder and Bela Seebach in 2014. It supplies numerous spice blends and pure spices, quick-fix meal kits through its own e-retail offering, third-party online marketplaces and an increasing presence in traditional offline food retail sectors. Just Spices inspires a growing consumer base to refine their own dishes and become creative in the kitchen. In 2018 the spice manufacturer also launched the Just Spices IN MINUTES “fix” meal kits category and in 2020 they launched their salad dressing range online and in retail trade. With numerous “fix” meal preparations, the company has been setting new standards for the fast and easy preparation of modern dishes in everyday life. The company now inspires more than 1.6 million followers on its social media channels like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. On TikTok, Just Spices regularly achieves several million views on its videos. With more than 150 employees, Just Spices continues to make good on its vision of attracting more people to cook better, healthier meals. Above all, Just Spices means passion, high-quality products with no additives. But the most important principle is to make delicious food even more delicious, getting as many people as possible to cook with joy and pride. Spice up your life at justspices.com, follow us @justspices on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, and become a fan on Facebook.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains a number of forward-looking statements. Words such as “will,” “accelerate,” “strengthen,” “leverage,” “drive,” “enhance,” “bring,” “see,” “focus,” “continue,” “grow,” and variations of such words and similar future or conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, expected benefits of the acquisition, impacts of the acquisition on Kraft Heinz’s business, financial results, opportunities, and future plans, and other statements that are not historical facts, each of which is based on Kraft Heinz’s current beliefs, expectations, estimates, and projections. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and beyond Kraft Heinz’s control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Those factors include, but are not limited to, Kraft Heinz’s ability to achieve intended benefits of the acquisition, the expected costs of the transaction, the success of business transitions, and the risk factors set forth in Kraft Heinz’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Kraft Heinz’s most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Kraft Heinz disclaims and does not undertake any obligation to update, revise, or withdraw any forward-looking statement in this press release, except as required by applicable law or regulation.
