(PRNewswire) Flowers Foods, Inc. recently announced a definitive agreement to acquire Canyon Bakehouse LLC, a privately held, gluten-free baking company based in Johnstown, Colorado for approximately $205 million. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed later in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Canyon Bakehouse offers a line of 21 gluten-free breads, buns, bagels, English muffins, and specialty items. Almost 90 percent of its sales are distributed frozen through natural, specialty, grocery, and mass retailers around the country, with the remainder sold fresh. According to the company, The Canyon Bakehouse brand is the top gluten-free loaf brand in natural and specialty food stores, the number-two brand in the overall gluten-free loaf category, and the fastest-growing gluten-free bread loaf brand in the U.S.
The company was founded by Josh and Christi Skow and Ed Miknevicius in 2009, after Christi was diagnosed with celiac disease. Canyon Bakehouse now employs 206 people and operates in a recently constructed 165,625-square-foot bakery with two production lines in Johnstown. After the transaction, Josh will continue to lead the business as president and Christi will serve as brand ambassador.
Canyon Bakehouse has generated a compound annual net sales growth rate of approximately 45 percent since 2014. According to IRI and SPINS data, the gluten-free packaged bread category has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 6.6 percent per year since 2015, outperforming the broader $14.5 billion U.S. retail baked goods market. The company has anticipated 2019 sales of approximately $70 million to $80 million.