ST. LOUIS — AB Mauri North America, a leader in yeast and bakery ingredient products and solutions, announced earlier this week it has reached an agreement to acquire the business and assets of Specialty Blending Co., LLC — a bread and sweet goods mix manufacturer located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a subsidiary of Flowers Foods, Inc. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017. Financial terms are not disclosed.
Specialty Blending’s mix and milling operation is situated in 44,000-square feet on four acres in Cedar Rapids and features multiple blending lines, including two for whole-grain bread concentrates and a third for sweet goods mixes used in items such as doughnuts and honey buns. Additionally, there is a specialty mill operation ideally suited for ancient grains, organic grains and custom blends.
“The acquisition of Specialty Blending will further strengthen our North American bakery ingredients business representing a unique opportunity to combine the global technology strength of AB Mauri together with a high-quality and well-positioned ingredients blending operation,” said Mark Prendergast, president, AB Mauri North America.
The current product portfolio includes specialty bread, cake, doughnut, muffin, brownie and cookie mixes as well as blends and mixes for crackers and biscuits.
“Specialty Blending has supplied our bakeries with high-quality fresh bread mixes and ingredients since we acquired the business in 2009,” said Allen Shiver, president & CEO, Flowers Foods. “We look forward to continuing that relationship now as a customer of AB Mauri.”
The acquired facility joins AB Mauri’s other manufacturing sites located across North America including Fleischmann’s Yeast production plants in Memphis, Tennessee, Calgary, Alberta, and Montreal, Quebec, and bakery ingredient plants in Greenville, Texas, and Wilsonville, Oregon. AB Mauri’s regional headquarters and bakingHUB research bakery and fermentation science laboratory are located in St. Louis, Missouri.
About AB Mauri
AB Mauri — specializing in yeast and bakery ingredients and supporting the world’s bakers, both small and large across the craft, artisan and industrial markets — operates globally with 7,000 employees working across 55 plants, with a presence in 34 countries and sales in more than 90 countries. More information is available at www.abmauri.com.
About AB Mauri North America
AB Mauri is a baking technology company delivering superior technical service and high quality yeast and bakery ingredient solutions to North American bakers. Commercial bakers — in need of a total resource for quality ingredients, process optimization, and customized solutions — rely on AB Mauri.
AB Mauri North America has three yeast production facilities — located in Memphis, Tennessee, Calgary, Alberta, and Montreal, Quebec — two bakery ingredient manufacturing sites — located in Greenville, Texas, and Wilsonville; Oregon – and regional headquarters and a bakingHUB research bakery and fermentation science laboratory — located in St. Louis, Missouri. More information is available at www.abmna.com or by calling 1.800.772.3971.
About Flowers Foods
Headquartered in Thomasville, Ga., Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO) is one of the largest producers of fresh packaged bakery foods in the United States with 2015 sales of $3.8 billion. Flowers operates bakeries across the country that produce a wide range of bakery products. Among the company's top brands are Nature's Own, Wonder, Tastykake, and Dave's Killer Bread. Learn more at www.flowersfoods.com.