Campbell Soup Co. has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets and business of Garden Fresh Gourmet for $231 million. Garden Fresh Gourmet is the No. 1 branded refrigerated salsa in the U.S. and also makes hummus, dips and tortilla chips.

Denise Morrison, Campbell’s president and chief executive officer, said, “The acquisition of Garden Fresh Gourmet is another milestone in reshaping our portfolio toward faster-growing categories, including packaged fresh and organic foods. Garden Fresh Gourmet’s on-trend products will provide Campbell with another growth engine to help us continue to shift our center of gravity.”

Garden Fresh Gourmet will become part of the Campbell Fresh division (formerly called Packaged Fresh), leveraging the Bolthouse Farms refrigerated fresh platform. Under Campbell’s new enterprise structure, the division will focus on building the company’s scale and accelerating growth in rapidly expanding packaged fresh categories across the retail perimeter. Packaged fresh foods represent a $19+ billion category that grew 4.9 percent in the past year, above the industry average.² The division also includes the Bolthouse Farms portfolio of fresh carrots, super-premium refrigerated beverages, salad dressings and kids snacks, as well as the recently-launched 1915 brand of ultra-premium cold-pressed organic juices. It also includes Campbell’s retail refrigerated soups.

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