USA: Hain Celestial buys Rudi's Organic Bakery

The Hain Celestial Group has increased its holdings in Boulder by acquiring Rudi's Organic Bakery for US$61.3m (about €42.2m), Daily Camera reports. This is a further move in in major corporate ownership into the organic sector (we reported earlier).

Rudi's posted US$60 million in net sales last year and has about 230 employees in Boulder. The company recently expanded its facility to accommodate for the production of gluten-free items. About 60 products are offered, including organic breads, bagels, wraps and soft pretzels.
 

"We are very excited by the strategic acquisition of Rudi's, a leading certified organic bread brand, which expands our participation into 11 of the top 20 natural categories in the United States,"  Irwin D. Simon, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hain Celestial said in a statement. The company sees itself as committed to driving product innovation and sees the opportunity to take Rudi's into other categories where the brand does not have products today. According to Foodnavigator USA, Rudi's CEO Jane Miller (picture) will be leaving the company.