Oregon-based Pacific Coast Fruit Co. recently acquired Portland food manufacturer King Harvest Hummus in a deal that was finalized in April.
Tom Brugato, president of Pacific Coast Fruit, said the acquisition came about after talks with King Harvest about a partnership blossomed into something bigger.
As two Oregon-owned-and-operated natural food makers, Brugato said buying King Harvest made sense to boost Pacific Coast Fruit’s product lineup and King Harvest’s distribution capacity.
“(King Harvest) is currently in a smaller space, and so we may use some of our capabilities in our facility, which is basically 10 blocks away, as a means to be able to either store, refrigerate or even pack more products in order to expand not only their current customer base, but to take our 1,500 to 2,000 customers and see if we can do some line extensions on our current routing systems that go into the Oregon-Washington marketplace,” Brugato said.
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The ethos of both brands also made sense for the acquisition, Brugato said. Brugato’s father-in-law started the company in 1977 with an emphasis on natural products and hiring good people, he said.
Combining both companies’ aligned passions made more sense to Brugato than a typical partnership, he said.
“There's so many hummus brands on any one shelf. There's local products and there's a lot of national brands, too. So I don't think our goal is ever to try to expand further than what we think we have the capability for, but just to make a really good product that people will talk about,” Brugato said.
Twyla Beckner, partner at King Harvest, said that the hummus maker has worked with Pacific Coast Fruit in the past to help with distribution and that she is excited to continue to grow with the brand.
“They were an invaluable and reliable partner to help us grow and reach the demands of our customers, so it was a natural progression to join forces when we were looking to change ownership,” Beckner said.
Beckner will stay on with the brand, Brugato said, and help them focus on growth over the next three years, and Brugato’s son, David, will also return to the family business as director of King Harvest Natural Foods to lead operational initiatives for the company.
