MELVILLE, N.Y. — The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. has acquired the assets and business of World Gourmet Marketing, L.L.C., including its Sensible Portions brand of Garden Veggie Straws, Pita Bites and other snack products. Financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to be accretive to Hain Celestial’s earnings in the first quarter of fiscal 2011, were not disclosed.
In line with the acquisition, Jason Cohen, co-founder of World Gourmet, was named president of Hain Celestial’s Club Division, reporting to John Carroll, chief executive officer of Hain Celestial United States. Mr. Cohen will be responsible for sales of all Hain Celestial brands into the club channel. Jerry Bello, co-founder of World Gourmet, was named vice-president of snacks and corporate innovation, reporting to Mr. Cohen.
“We are excited about adding Sensible Portions snack products to our portfolio of brands, and we welcome Jason Cohen and Jerry Bello with their proven track record of building a successful business,” said Irwin D. Simon, president and c.e.o. of Hain Celestial. “We view this as a strategic acquisition for both companies, combining Hain Celestial’s impressive group of brands and management team with World Gourmet’s history of developing and marketing innovative products, particularly in the club store channel. We look forward to building a strong club business for many of our Hain Celestial brands as we plan to present a full portfolio of products to the club store channel alongside Sensible Portions.”