St. Louis-based baking ingredient and yeast solutions producer, AB Mauri has agreed to acquire the business and assets of bread and baking mix manufacturer, Specialty Blending Co. for an undisclosed amount.

Based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Specialty Blending is a subsidiary of Flowers Foods Inc. that produces bread and sweet goods mixes including cakes, muffins, crackers, cookies, brownies, biscuits, honey buns and doughnuts. Flowers Foods is one of the top bakery food producers in the U.S., with portfolio brands that include the iconic Wonder Bread and Natures’ Own, and sales of $3.8 billion last year, reports the St. Louis Business Journal.

Specialty Blending’s mix and milling operations include multiple blending lines including two dedicated to whole-grain bread concentrates, one for sweet good mixes, and a specialty mill for the processing of ancient grains, organic grains and custom blends.

The addition of these assets to AB Mauri’s existing five manufacturing sites in Memphis, Tennessee, Calgary and Montreal, Canada, Greenville Texas, and Wilsonville, Oregon will serve to expand AB Mauri’s footprint within the sector.

“The acquisition of Specialty Blending will further strengthen our North American bakery ingredients business representing a unique opportunity to combine the global technology strength of AB Mauri together with a high-quality and well-positioned ingredients blending operation,” said Mark Prendergast, president of St. Louis-based AB Mauri North America.

The deal will also forge a new relationship between AB Mauri and Flowers Foods.

“Specialty Blending has supplied our bakeries with high-quality fresh bread mixes and ingredients since we acquired the business in 2009,” said Allen Shiver, president and chief executive officer of Flowers Foods, Thomasville, Georgia, U.S. “We look forward to continuing that relationship now as a customer of AB Mauri.”

Make With the Dough

As consumers increasingly reach for more indulgent yet healthier foods, the bakery sector is ideally positioned to capitalize upon these polarized trends. Bakery items can appeal to those looking for indulgent foods through the production of cakes, pastries, and cookies, while also appeal to the health conscious consumer through offerings that include whole-grain, high-fiber, non-GMO or organic breads or crackers, according to Euromonitor.

Driven by these trends and a general increase in the consumption of bread, the global market for baked goods is expected to reach a value of US$485 billion by 2020, according to Global Industry Analysts, with Asia Pacific being the top growing region with a CAGR of 6.7 percent as the region’s consumers shift their tastes from rice to wheat-based foods.

Given its capacity to produce both sweet baked goods and a range of healthy options through its whole-grain, ancient grains, and organic mixing and milling operations Specialty Blending is ideally situated to enhance AB Mauri’s ability to meet these two diverse consumer trends while also strengthening its standing and relationships within the industry.

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Lynda Kiernan