Waukesha-based
Legacy Bakehouse, a manufacturer of baked snack components including rye chips, pita chips and breadsticks, has acquired Sevierville, Tennessee-based
Mannon Specialty Foods, Inc. d.b.a.
Classic Cookie.
Classic Cookie is a manufacturer of premium packaged cookies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This is Legacy Bakehouse’s second acquisition in six months. The company also acquired Cudahy-based Angelic Bakehouse
last July.
Classic Cookie, founded in 1984, sells its cookies at Walmart. The brand is also found in several other national and regional retailers and distribution partners. The company’s products are also used by fundraising organizations nationwide. Classic Cookie operates a 50,000-square-foot commercial bakery in Tennessee, which was recently expanded to accommodate continued growth.
“Classic Cookie is a major step, expanding our baked snacks capabilities, capacity, markets, and customers,” said
Alain Vallet-Sandre, chief commercial officer at Legacy Bakehouse. “Adding our contract manufacturing and private label capabilities to Classic Cookie’s strong sales channels, as well as expanding our salty/savory snacking platform to include sweet, rounds out our offerings, increasing Legacy’s attractiveness as a partner to a broader cross-section of customers.”
The Classic Cookie acquisition expands Legacy Bakehouse's bakery categories and adds an emerging brand with retail distribution to the company's portfolio. It also adds diverse cookie and brownie production capabilities to its contract manufacturing and private label product portfolio. The Tennessee facility will be Legacy Bakehouse's third production facility.
“Classic Cookie is a strategic acquisition in our evolving baking platform,” said
Brian Behm, principal at Chicago-based
Benford Capital Partners, the parent company of Legacy Bakehouse. “Classic Cookie’s primary channels, including national retail, vending, contract manufacturing, private label, and fundraising are complementary to Legacy’s.”
Legacy Bakehouse’s rapid growth was the subject of a
BizTimes cover story last October. The manufacturer began as a small bakery run by German immigrants and has since grown into one of the country’s largest producers of baked snack components.
