Fresca Foods acquires assets, brands of healthy-snack maker in Centennial

LOUISVILLE — Fresca Foods Inc. in Louisville has acquired the assets and brands of healthy-snack maker Front Range Snacks Inc. in Centennial.

Fresca Foods has been a longtime partner with Front Range Snacks, working with the company on its Open Road Snacks family of products that includes Rocky Mountain Popcorn, Sinfully Thin popcorn and Diego’s Chips.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition expands Fresca Foods’ portfolio of natural and organic food brands through its wholly owned subsidiary, Fresca Brands Innovation Group. Fresca Brands acquired Sejoyia Foods’ brands  in October 2015. Sejoyia Foods makes Coco-Roons cookies.

The deal with Front Range Snacks is intended to accelerate the Open Road Snacks brand. The popcorn and chips products are distributed throughout the United States and are available in 25,000 retail locations.

Fresca Foods has been a supply-chain partner with the company for the past six years, providing product development, sourcing, manufacturing and logistics services for the brand. Co-founder Karen Bradley and the Open Road Snacks’ sales team will join Fresca and focus on the growth of its three core products.

The acquisition gives the Open Road Snacks’ team expanded sales, marketing, financial and back-office support. Research and development, supply chain and manufacturing will continue to be provided by Fresca.

“Our partnership with Karen and her team is consistent with our goal of increasing accessibility of snack foods that are good for our bodies and the planet,” said Liz Myslik, chief executive of Fresca Brands and chief marketing officer of Fresca Foods. “By combining the expertise of both our teams, we see limitless potential for Open Road Snacks.”

 Fresca was founded 24 years ago as Pasta Fresca in Boulder, selling all-natural foods to retail customers and wholesale accounts. Over the past 13 years, Fresca has transformed from a small food-service manufacturer into a natural-foods company, operating its own natural-food brands and serving as supply-chain and innovation partner to other companies.

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