The sale of Hain Celestial’s North American snack enterprise introduced Feb. 2 is a “decisive first step” within the well being and wellness firm’s bid to simplify its portfolio and resuscitate steadily slipping gross sales which have dragged down earnings and share value since early 2022.
Within the deal, Snackruptors, a family-owned snack maker that rebranded in 2025 from RDJ Bakeries, agreed to purchase Hain Celestial’s snack enterprise for $115 million in money. The deal brings the Canadian firm, which focuses totally on co-manufacturing and personal label, a line-up of well-known better-for-you manufacturers, together with Backyard Veggie Snacks, Terra chips and Backyard of Eatin’ snacks.
Snackruptors President Rick Taborda emphasised the “important progress potential” of the manufacturers and their complementary match along with his enterprise in an announcement saying the deal.
The transaction is anticipated shut on the finish of the month, at which level Hain Celestial could have a extra centered portfolio centered round dairy, together with The Greek Gods yogurt, child meals, together with Ella’s Kitchen and Earth’s Greatest, tea – led by its Celestial Seasonings line – and culinary oils underneath the Spectrum model.
How Hain’s snack push unraveled
Hain’s resolution to promote its snack enterprise is an about-face from a technique it aggressively pursued for the previous 10 years.
As a part of a technique to grow to be ‘greater fish’ in snacks, dairy and meat alternate options, the corporate acquired better-for-you manufacturers ParmCrisps, Thinsters and That’s How We Roll in late 2021, which adopted a gradual shopping for spree that picked up pace within the 2010s.
The corporate’s preliminary plan didn’t pan out, and Hain’s fortunes took a flip in December 2021 when its share value, buying and selling round $42.64, started plummeting. By the Fall 2025, it had leveled out at roughly $1.32 per share.
The drop was led by a decline in gross sales in North America that has continued, regardless of a “daring” plan unveiled in late 2023 to ‘reimagine’ the enterprise by a five-prong plan centered on snacks, meals for youths and drinks.
Indicators the corporate’s snack technique was faltering emerged lower than a 12 months later, when Hain started unwinding components of its snack portfolio.
Among the many first out, have been the final in: together with the sale of Thinster cookies to J&J Snacks and ParmCrisps to Our House in 2024.
Regardless of investments final 12 months in new Backyard Veggie straws and a line of snacks concentrating on kids between “toddlerhood” and “large child independence,” the corporate’s snack gross sales continued to sag.
In the newest quarter, natural internet gross sales in snacks fell 17% 12 months over 12 months to about $80 million, pushed by velocity challenges and distribution loss in North America, in keeping with the corporate’s most up-to-date earnings. These are on high of year-over-year gross sales declines of seven.3% in North America in 2024, which almost doubled to a 15.8% year-over-year decline in 2025. These dragged down gross revenue, which fell 1.9% and 13.8% respectively, in keeping with firm earnings experiences.
On demand: Wholesome snacking tendencies
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Snack enterprise sale is a ‘constructive first step’
Hain Celestial President and CEO Alison Lewis known as the corporate’s resolution to completely sever the North American snack enterprise a “decisive first step” to “sharpen our give attention to classes and platforms in key markets the place we are able to leverage our strongest organizational capabilities.”
Analysts with William Blair concurred. They wrote in a Feb. 2 funding observe that the sale is a “constructive first step within the execution section of the corporate’s ongoing strategic assessment (associated to the exit or sale of companies), which it initiated in Might 2025.”
They added that “with enterprise worth (adjusted for the sale) at about six occasions the 2027 EBITDA and the enterprise projected to stay free money stream constructive, we consider there’s a case for worth to be created.”
Throughout the firm’s first quarter fiscal 2026 earnings name in November, Lewis burdened Hain is “dedicated to constructing a profitable, easier portfolio by exiting unprofitable or low-margin tail SKUs, refocusing assets on manufacturers and classes with the best progress and margin potential, and managing product life cycles for improved long-term worth.”
Are extra model’s on Hain’s chopping block?
Final fall, Lewis mentioned Hain deliberate to get rid of about 30% of its North American SKUs by fiscal 2027, which she mentioned would allow it to enhance provide chain effectivity and shelf productiveness.
This week’s deal represents 22% of the corporate’s internet gross sales in fiscal 2025 and 38% of the North American phase internet gross sales, in keeping with Hain. However, it added, its EBITDA contribution prior to now 12 months was “negligible.”
Proceeds from the sale will go in direction of decreasing debt and strengthening the corporate’s monetary place, in keeping with Lewis.
She added, “The ensuing monetary flexibility will allow elevated funding over time, serving to to drive sustainable, worthwhile progress and create long-term shareholder worth.”
