ST. LOUIS — AB Mauri North America has agreed to acquire the business and assets of Specialty Blending Co., L.L.C., a bread and sweet goods mix manufacturer and a subsidiary of Flowers Foods, Inc.
Specialty Blending’s 44,000-square-feet mix and milling operation is found on four acres in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It features multiple blending lines, including two for whole grain bread concentrates and a third for sweet goods mixes used in items such as donuts and honey buns. A specialty mill operation is for ancient grains, organic grains and custom blends.
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| Mark Prendergast, president of AB Mauri North America |
“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, when the deal was announced Dec. 20.
The current product portfolio includes specialty bread, cake, donut, muffin, brownie and cookie mixes as well as blends and mixes for crackers and biscuits.
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| Allen Shiver, president and c.e.o. of 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, Ga. “We look forward to continuing that relationship now as a customer of AB Mauri.”
Financial terms were not disclosed for the transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.
Other AB Mauri manufacturing sites in North America include Fleischmann’s yeast production plants in Memphis, Tenn., Calgary, Alta., and Montreal; and bakery ingredient plants in Greenville, Texas, and Wilsonville, Ore. AB Mauri’s regional headquarters and bakingHUB research bakery and fermentation science laboratory are in St. Louis.
