Dive Brief:
- Hershey is buying LesserEvil, a maker of organic snacks that prioritize bold flavors with better-for-you ingredients. The purchase price was not disclosed, but The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the deal, said it was roughly $750 million.
- LesserEvil makes popcorn, puffs, curls and other snacks using healthier ingredients. Many of its products are made with coconut oil or avocado oil.
- The acquisition furthers Hershey’s push into salty snacks by adding another fast-growing brand to its portfolio while increasing the snacking options it can provide to consumers.
Dive Insight:
Hershey was built on its iconic sweets including Kisses, Reese’s and Twizzlers.
In recent years, the Pennsylvania-based company has aggressively moved beyond its signature confections by building a presence in salty snacks.
Hershey purchased Amplify, the parent company of popcorn brand SkinnyPop, for $1.6 billion in 2017, the largest deal in the company’s history. It also acquired Pirate’s Booty cheese puffs a year later, and in 2021 doled out $1.2 billion for fast-growing Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels and its Midwest co-manufacturer Pretzels Inc.
Hershey also recently named Veronica Villasenor, a 22-year veteran with the company, to oversee its salty snacks business. While growing, the segment is responsible for a small portion of Hershey’s business, with the lion’s share of its operations coming from confections. Salty snacks made up about 10% of its $11.2 billion in total sales in 2024.
Hershey has eschewed snacks such as chips in favor of buying popcorn, puff and pretzel brands that offer unique flavor profiles and technology it can apply to other products it makes. LesserEvil fits squarely into this strategy, with what Hershey calls “interesting and bold flavors.” These include Himalayan Pink Salt Paleo Puffs, Oh My Ghee! Popcorn, Sugar Cookie Popcorn and Avocado-Licious Organic Popcorn.
This deal also builds out Hershey’s existing presence in snacks like popcorn and puffs, while adding treats such as curls and onion-flavored, ring-shaped offerings to the mix.
“Investing in LesserEvil brings a multi-category, better-for-you snacks platform to extend our offerings into new categories and forms, reaching new consumers in more eating occasions,” Michele Buck, Hershey’s CEO, said in a statement. “This high-growth brand not only complements our beloved confection and salty snack brands but also brings additional manufacturing capabilities and capacity to meet growing consumer and retailer needs.”
Hershey said LesserEvil’s leadership team will continue with the company. The transaction is expected to close later this year.
The deal is the latest by a food maker to snap up a smaller company to add growth and increase its presence in a trendy category.
PepsiCo announced in 2024 that it was buying Mexican-American food maker Siete Foods for $1.2 billion, while Slim Jim manufacturer Conagra Brands added premium meat stick brand Fatty.
And earlier this year, Wonder bread manufacturer Flowers Foods announced the acquisition of better-for-you snacks maker Simple Mills for $795 million. The purchase of Simple Mills improved the bread maker’s growth prospects and diversified its portfolio with the addition of crackers, cookies, snack bars and baking mixes.
