October 31, 2018

PepsiCo is continuing to expand its presence in the better-for-you space, announcing the acquisition of Health Warrior, a producer of plant-based snack bars and other offerings including microwavable protein mug muffins and protein powders that include nutrient-dense superfood ingredients.

The company will be the first acquisition dedicated to PepsiCo HIVE, a new operating entity in the company focusing on the acceleration of smaller, on-trend, high-potential emerging brands.

“We continue to position ourselves at the forefront of changing consumer preferences and trends. This acquisition helps us increase our presence in the nutrition bar category, which is an attractive growth space,” said Al Carey, CEO of PepsiCo North America.

The launch of HIVE will give PepsiCo a fundamentally new operating model, according to Seth Kaufman, president of PepsiCo North America Nutrition, and leader of the The HIVE.

“We continue to learn a great deal every single day from our own innovation and experimentation experiences, from unique external partnerships we’ve crafted and from observing entrepreneurial food and beverage companies both large and small,” said Kaufman upon the launch of the unit in August. “We will channel that experience in this team to act with the agility of a small company, but with access to the knowledge, scale and resources of PepsiCo.”

Founded in Richmond, Virginia, in 2011 by college friends Dan Gluck, Nick Morris and Shane Emmett, who is currently the company CEO, the creation of the company was driven by the desire to make nutrient-dense foods more accessible to a greater number of Americans. Each product in Health Warrior’s line is low in sugar, non-GMO, gluten-free, and includes high-powered ingredients such as chia and pumpkin seeds.

“We’re fired up to join PepsiCo and continue to put nutritious options within reach of significantly more people,” said Emmett. “With a shared mission to help create healthy relationships between people and food, PepsiCo is the ideal partner to bring our nutrient-dense, plant-forward offerings to even more consumers and considerably accelerate Health Warrior’s growth. This is the whole reason we started the company.”

-Lynda Kiernan