Pacific Avenue Capital Partners, a Los Angeles-based private investment firm, has acquired Sunrich Products, the sunflower and roasted snack division of SunOpta.
The transaction includes three processing facilities in the upper Midwest, hybrid seed development activities, a collaborative program with independent sunflower growers, and relationships with an extensive set of customers in the food ingredients, snack food, and birdseed markets.
Kent Johnson, general manager of Sunrich, will become Chief Executive Officer.
Sunrich, based in Crookston, Minnesota, is an integrated provider of farm to product sunflower seeds, chickpeas and other nutritious snacks.
Kent Johnson, CEO, Sunrich Products, said: “We are excited to partner with Pacific Avenue to accelerate the growth of Sunrich’s business by further fulfilling our customers’ needs for quality roasted snack products.
“Our partnership with outstanding growers who produce quality crops enable Sunrich to reliably meet the needs of our customers. We look forward to further innovating our portfolio of healthy products made from sunflower and other healthy crops.”
Chris Sznewajs, founder and managing partner of Pacific Avenue, said: “We are excited about the Sunrich investment and the company’s ability to capitalize on the growing demand for quality farm to product healthy foods for both the human and pet markets.
“This acquisition demonstrates Pacific Avenue’s ability to successfully execute complex corporate divestitures. We are excited to partner with the Sunrich leadership team and look forward to investing to grow the business and ensuring we meet the needs of our customers.”