Clif Bar is a US business, founded in 1992 by Gary Erickson and Lisa Thomas to create nutrition-forward snacks and drinks. In its first year, sales of Clif Bar exceeded $700k, driven by the growth of the healthy and natural foods movement. Sales doubled each year, and by 1997, Clif Bar’s revenue surpassed $20m.
Erickson and Thomas turned down a $120m offer from Quaker Oats to purchase the company in 2000, but accepted the $2.9bn deal with Mondelēz.
Clif Bar is based on its Five Aspirations foundation, committed to sustaining its people, community, planet, brands and business. The mission of the Clif Bar Family Foundation – formed in 2006 – is to strengthen our food system, enhance equitable community health outcomes, and be stewards of the environment and natural resources.
Co-CEO’s Erickson and Kit Crawford also own the Clif Family Winery & Farm in the Napa Valley.
Shared passion to fuel busy lifestyles
The acquisition expands Mondelēz's global snack bar business to more than $1bn, with Clif Bar’s leading brands (Clif, Clif Kid and Luna) complementing the Perfect Snacks bouquet – a US refrigerated snacking business procured by Mondelēz in 2019 – and UK performance nutrition producer Grenade, acquired last year.
“We are delighted to formally welcome Clif Bar & Company into our Mondelēz International team,” said Dirk Van de Put, chairman & CEO of Mondelēz International.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to advance our shared passion for delivering great-tasting snacks that help fuel busy lifestyles, while helping to reduce our impact on the planet.”
Clif Bar will continue to operate from its headquarters in Emeryville, California, along with its manufacturing operations in Idaho and Indiana.
The bolt-on also builds on Oreo, belVita and Toblerone maker’s strategy to prioritise fast-growing snacking segments in key geographies.
Already this year, Mondelēz has announced an agreement to acquire Ricolino, Mexico’s leading confectionary company, from Grupo Bimbo; and fully integrated its acquisition of Chipita S.A., a European snack-size cakes and pastries producer.
This follows a raft of acquisitions in 2021, including Grenade; Aussie biscuit and cracker producer Gourmet Food Holdings; and Hu, a US wellbeing snacking company.