Milwaukee-based spiced and candied nuts manufacturer Treat Bake Shop LLC has been sold to Madison-based preserves manufacturer Quince and Apple LLC. The transaction closed today for an undisclosed price.
Sarah Marx Feldner founded Treat in 2011 and was its sole owner. Its five varieties of spiced and candied nuts are made at its facility at 207 E. Buffalo St. and sold in specialty grocers and high-end cheese stores nationwide. Treat recently landed a contract to sell its products in all Crate & Barrel stores. Treat had three employees, all of whom have phased out into other employment, Marx Feldner said.
“Honestly, I’ve been doing this for about six years and I was just kind of ready for something else,” she said. “Quince and Apple was a crazy perfect fit, so it just felt really good. We’ve crossed paths a lot in shows and stores and they have a lot of the same customers.”
Production for Treat products will move into Quince’s Madison kitchen on about March 16, and the Treat facility in Milwaukee will close. Marx Feldner said Quince and Apple has more distributor and store relationships, and that network will help Treat to grow.
“I am incredibly proud of the Treat brand I have built and very excited for Quince and Apple’s ability to extend its reach even further,” she said. “I have a ton of respect for Matt and Clare and I couldn’t think of a better place for Treat to flourish.”
Quince and Apple was formed in 2009 by husband and wife duo Matt and Clare Stoner Fehsenfeld. Its small batch preserves and drink syrups are sold at stores and distributors around the country.
“We have long admired the company and brand that Sarah has built,” Matt Stoner Fehsenfeld said. “We are excited to be able to use the resources we’ve built to introduce Treat Bake Shop’s spiced and candied nuts to a wider national audience.”
“Treat and Quince and Apple are really a perfect fit,” Clare Stoner Fehsenfeld said. “There are just so many similarities in the way we manage our brands, the care we show our customers and, most importantly, the fact that we’ve both stayed true to small-batch artisan production methods as we’ve grown.”
