The Bakery Companies Announces Acquisition of Steck Wholesale Foods
Nashville, Tenn. — The Bakery Companies (“The Bakery Cos.”), a manufacturer of fresh and frozen breads, baked goods and dough products announced today the acquisition of Steck Wholesale Foods (“Steck”). Founded in 2004 and based in North Sioux City, South Dakota, Steck bakes and distributes high quality English muffins and biscuits for a diverse range of customers, with a focus on leading grocery retailers and convenience stores. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The team of industry veterans at Steck will join the Bakery Cos. family and continue to operate the business out of its existing manufacturing facility. Craig Stanley will remain at the helm of the organization as General Manager. Doug Heck and Jim Calvert will also continue in their engineering and sales roles, respectively, and join the broader teams within the organization.
Commenting on the transaction, Yianny Caparos, President of The Bakery Cos. said, “My brother and I have known Craig, Doug, Jim and their team for over a decade and we’re thrilled to welcome the Steck associates into our Bakery Companies family. They’ve built and run an impressive facility with an impeccable reputation and track record in the industry. It’s energizing to find partners who share our broader strategic vision for The Bakery Cos.”
Stanley echoed Caparos’ enthusiasm stating, “Doug, Jim and I have known and deeply respected both Cordia and the Caparos brothers since we started our bakery 15 years ago. There is a tremendous overlap in our businesses and cultures, and we are honored to be joining The Bakery Cos. family. Together, we can leverage the combined scale of our businesses, offering an even more comprehensive portfolio to our customers. We are truly excited about this next chapter and committed to ensuring a smooth transition.”
The Bakery Companies is owned by Arbor Investments, a specialized private equity firm that focuses exclusively on acquiring premier companies in food, beverage and related industries. Arbor announced the recapitalization of The Bakery Companies with founder and CEO Cordia Harrington in October 2019.
“Steck is a hand-in-glove fit for The Bakery Cos. Their focus on manufacturing for retail customers is complementary to our existing strength in foodservice, and the South Dakota facility expands our geographic manufacturing footprint into the upper Midwest,” said Harrington. “We gain additional lines within our core English muffin and biscuit categories, which creates not only incremental capacity, but also affords us both flexibility and redundancy in our manufacturing capabilities at geographically dispersed facilities. Providing a redundant supply chain is more critical to our customers today than ever before.”
Harrington also noted, “The Bakery Cos. team is committed to our mission of Create Opportunities; Make a Difference; and Impact Lives. We are working around the clock to serve our communities and are proud to have Craig, Doug, Jim and their team join our Bakery Companies family and pursue this mission together.”
Arbor Partner, Chris Tuffin noted “We are delighted with the partnership of another group of passionate and talented bakers. This is an exciting first step in our strategic growth of The Bakery Cos. We continue to look for opportunities to join forces with others, while simultaneously adding new capabilities and capacity organically, as evident by our recent groundbreaking to expand in Nashville.”
Winston & Strawn served as Arbor’s legal counsel in connection with the transaction.