Kraft Heinz Acquiring Just Spices Majority Stake

The Kraft Heinz Company will acquire 85% of Just Spices GmbH, with the company’s three founders retaining the other 15% of the German-based food company and shifting their focus to international expansion, according to a joint announcement Friday (Dec. 10).

Just Spices has annual sales of about 60 million euros (almost $68 million), selling more than 170 spice blends, salad dressings, In Minutes blends and other products. The company sells about 70% of its ready-made and one-step spice blends directly to consumers, with the rest coming through in-store and online grocery retailers in Germany, Spain, Austria and Switzerland.

“This is a great opportunity to further accelerate our growth agenda by strengthening our ability to anticipate trends in consumer tastes and preferences, as well as our speed to innovate,” said Rafael Oliveira, International Zone President at Kraft Heinz, in the joint announcement.

“We will leverage our scale and agility to accelerate Just Spices’ business in the fast-growing taste elevation market beyond its current German base and its recent market entries in Spain, Austria and Switzerland,” he said. “We also see tremendous potential to strengthen and enhance our own direct-to-consumer operations and go-to-market expansion.”

Just Spices also boasts about 1.6 million followers across its social media platforms. The company uses advanced analytics to create and identify early consumer trends, foster product innovation, understand customer sentiment and optimize consumer targeting.

“In the last few years, Just Spices has been further strengthening its successful omni-channel approach, with some of the best-in-class direct-to-consumer analytics in the food space,” said Florian Falk, Just Spices CEO and one of the company’s three founders, in the joint announcement.

“We are extremely excited by the potential for expansion that comes from combining Just Spices’ innovation and brand power with the Kraft Heinz team and the scale they bring to the table,” he said.

Kraft Heinz’s acquisition of the majority stake of Just Spices is subject to customary closing conditions, including merger control approval, and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022.

Related: Rise in Restaurant Dining Compounds Inflationary Pressure for Kraft Heinz

In October, Kraft Heinz Chief Financial Officer Paulo Basilio said the company aims to go into next year with a price plan that will protect against the paradox between food services’ recent growth and retail sales’ slight dip in the past year.