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DEERFIELD, Ill. — Mondelez International has acquired Enjoy Life Foods, a maker of allergy-friendly snacks.
Mondelez International has acquired Enjoy Life Foods, a maker of allergy-friendly snacks.
Financial terms of the acquisition, announced Monday, weren’t disclosed. Mondelez said the transaction was a simultaneous sign-and-close deal.
Schiller Park, Ill.-based Enjoy Life Foods offers more than 40 allergy-friendly and gluten-free products, including cookies, cereal, snack bars, seed and fruit mixes, baking chocolate, chocolate bars and snack chips.
Mondelez noted that Enjoy Life’s foods are free from the eight most common allergens: wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish and shellfish, which together account for about 90% of all food allergies.
In addition, Mondelez reported that the $12 billion "free from" food market in the United States is growing at strong double-digit rates, fueled by a rising incidence of food allergies and food intolerances plus consumer adoption of "free from" as a healthy lifestyle option.
"As we focus on continuing to drive growth in snacking, the acquisition of Enjoy Life Foods is a great strategic fit for us," stated Mark Clouse, chief growth officer at Mondelez International. "The Enjoy Life brand expands our portfolio into faster growing, on-trend, ‘better for you’ areas and provides an excellent platform to make these delicious offerings available to consumers with ‘free from’ needs or simply looking for healthy-lifestyle options, both in the United States and beyond."
Plans call for Enjoy Life Foods founder and chief executive officer Scott Mandell and other members of the Enjoy Life management team to continue to lead the company, which will operate as a separate, wholly owned subsidiary of Mondelez.
"As we combine our great brand, market leadership and passion for our consumers with the global resources, scale and marketing expertise of Mondelez International, I’m confident this relationship will enable us to reach even greater heights," Mandell commented.
Mondelez International’s roster of food, snack and beverage brands includes Oreo, LU and Nabisco cookies and biscuits; Cadbury, Cadbury Dairy Milk and Milka chocolate; Trident gum; Jacobs coffee and Tang powdered beverages.
