The snack giant sold off its private brands business along with two manufacturing plants in the US and Canada in a $430m deal, initially announced on May 7, 2014. At the same time, the company also purchased Wisconsin-based Baptista’s Bakery – a co-manufacturing specialist that already made some Snyder’s-Lance products including its fast-growing Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps brand.
Snyder’s-Lance said its margin improvement and restructuring program should offset costs created by the sale of its private brands – totting up annual cost reductions of between $22-25m.
It was estimated the total impact of its private business sell-off and Baptista’s buy would cause an annualized reduction in net revenue of around $250m.
“The plan is designed to scale the company’s operations appropriately with focus on branded products as well as the DSD and direct sales networks… Savings are expected to come from a combination of operational initiatives and headcount reductions,” the company said.
“…This is a major initiative for the company to ensure its cost base is managed aggressively.”
Snyder’s-Lance would announce more details in its Q2 2014 earnings call in August, it said.