New Executive Team Named at Harvest Hill Beverage Company Following the Merger of Sunny Delight Beverages Co. Into Harvest Hill Beverage Company
GREENWICH, CT ‒ May 22, 2017 ‒ Brynwood Partners VII L.P. announced today that it has completed the merger of Sunny Delight Beverages Co. (“Sunny Delight”) into Harvest Hill Beverage Company (“Harvest Hill”). Harvest Hill is now one of the nation’s leading independent beverage companies with over $800 million in gross sales, seven manufacturing facilities with a national footprint and a portfolio of iconic brands, including Juicy Juice®, SunnyD®, Little HUG®, Daily’s®, and Nutrament®. Harvest Hill is headquartered in Stamford, CT and will maintain an office in Cincinnati, OH.
In conjunction with the merger, Harvest Hill has announced a new executive team. Effective April 4th, John LeBoutillier was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Harvest Hill. “John joins us with over 25 years of experience in the food and consumer products industries having worked at Kraft and Unilever and, most recently, serving as the President of Unilever Canada. John brings significant beverage and consumer products experience to Harvest Hill. We have confidence in John as a key leader in the overall integration and growth of the company,” said Hendrik J. Hartong III, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Brynwood Partners. Mr. Hartong also serves as the Chairman of Harvest Hill.
Additionally, Doug Behre has been named Chief Financial Officer for Harvest Hill. Mr. Hartong stated, “Doug has over 25 years of experience as a financial leader having spent a majority of his career in the consumer products industry with Campbell Soup and L’Oréal. Most recently, Doug served as the Chief Financial Officer for Truck-Lite, a company with approximately $500 million net sales in the commercial vehicle lighting industry.”
With the addition of Mr. LeBoutillier and Mr. Behre, two additional executives have been named to the senior management team at Harvest Hill. Tim Voelkerding has been named Chief Operating Officer. Tim has been an integral part of Sunny Delight having been with the company for 13 years in various financial and executive roles. All of Harvest Hill’s supply chain functions will report to Tim.
About Brynwood Partners:
Founded in 1984 and based in Greenwich, CT, Brynwood Partners is an operationally- focused private equity firm that makes control investments in North American-based lower middle market companies in the consumer sector.
Brynwood Partners currently manages more than $725 million of private equity capital for limited partners, which include U.S. and international pension funds, fund-of-funds, endowments, high net worth family investment offices and financial institutions. For more information on Brynwood Partners, please visit www.brynwoodpartners.com.
About Harvest Hill Beverage Company:
Harvest Hill Beverage Company, based in Stamford, CT, was formed by Brynwood Partners VII L.P. (“Brynwood VII”) in July 2014 to acquire the iconic Juicy Juice® brand from Nestlé USA, Inc. Juicy Juice® is the largest 100% juice brand in the U.S. and is focused on the kids segment. The company markets Juicy Juice® products in single-serve and multi-serve formats to the retail and foodservice channels. In March 2015, Harvest Hill acquired American Beverage Corporation (“ABC”) from Wessanen, a publicly-traded food and beverage company based in Holland. With the ABC acquisition, the company added the Little HUG® juice brand and Daily’s Cocktails® brand. ABC’s brands are distributed to a blue-chip customer base that includes leading grocery retailers, wholesalers, supercenters and foodservice distributors. In October 2016, Harvest Hill acquired Faribault Foods, Inc.’s juice pouch manufacturing facility in Elk River, MN and selected assets. Most recently, in December 2016, the company acquired the Nutrament® energy drink brand from Nestlé HealthCare Nutrition, Inc.
Sunny Delight Beverages Co. was formed by J.W. Childs Associates in 2004 to acquire the iconic SunnyD® brand from The Procter & Gamble Company. Brynwood VII acquired Sunny Delight in February 2016 and, in May 2017, merged the company into its portfolio company, Harvest Hill. The 54-year-old SunnyD® brand is a leading chilled juice drink in the U.S. In addition to the SunnyD® brand, the company markets the Fruit2O® and Veryfine® beverage brands. Sunny Delight’s products are widely distributed through leading retailers in the U.S. and Canada.
Harvest Hill, which currently operates seven strategically located manufacturing facilities in the U.S., intends to grow its branded, private label and co-manufacturing businesses both organically and through strategic add-on acquisitions. For more information on Harvest Hill, please visit www.harvesthill.com, www.sunnyd.com, www.fruit2o.com and www.veryfine.com.