DEERFIELD, ILL. — Mondelez International, Inc. has taken a minority stake in Hu Products and Hu Kitchen, New York, a snack company that manufactures clean label, paleo-inspired products. Terms of the investment, which was made through Mondelez’s SnackFutures business unit, were not announced.

“As the global snacking leader, we’re on a mission to lead the future of snacking and push the boundaries of what’s possible,” said Timothy P. Cofer, executive vice-president and chief growth officer of Mondelez International. “Investing in Hu offers our company an opportunity to do exactly that. The Hu brand sits at the convergence of key growing consumer trends. Building on its initial success in chocolate, we believe there’s an exciting opportunity to continue expanding the Hu proposition into a broad health-focused snacking platform across categories. And, with an in-house test kitchen and insights lab, they have a unique ability to quickly test and learn.”

Hu was founded in 2012 by Jason H. Karp, Jordan Brown and Jessica (Brown) Karp. It initially was a high-end kitchen and market focused on clean label, paleo items. The company later expanded and began offering its products at retail. Products in the Hu portfolio include coffee, chocolates and grain-free crackers.

“Jordan, Jessica and I started Hu because we wanted a place where we could trust and understand every ingredient in our food,” said Jason Karp, chairman of Hu. “We chose Mondelez International as a minority investor because we believe their resources, strengths and progressive vision of SnackFutures can help us accelerate positive change within snacking. This partnership should allow the Hu platform to grow and reach more people in a better and broader way than on our own.”

SnackFutures is a hub within Mondelez that focuses on accelerating innovation, the invention of new brands and the reinvention of small-scale brands. The business unit took a minority stake in Uplift Food, New York, a maker of prebiotic functional foods, earlier this year.