has invested in
Cascadia Capital, an investment bank serving middle market clients globally, today announced its client, PNC Riverarch Capital (“Riverarch”), together with its portfolio company Chef Merito Seasonings (“Chef Merito”), has completed an investment in La Fiesta Food Products (“La Fiesta”), a leading provider of spices, chiles, herbs, and related products within the Hispanic foods market.
Riverarch is a middle-market private equity firm which invests in privately held companies in North America and Europe. It’s portfolio company La Fiesta is one of the leading providers of spices & herbs, dried chili pods, corn husks, and other specialty products for Latin cuisine, serving customers nationwide. Headquartered in La Mirada, CA, La Fiesta prides itself on offering its customers best-in-class service built on its proprietary direct store delivery (“DSD”) network that enables it to provide hundreds of SKUs with unmatched consistency and reliability.
“We’re thrilled to announce that Chef Merito and La Fiesta have merged to create the nation’s premier provider of Hispanic seasonings, spices, herbs, marinades, and other specialty products,” commented Margaret Crow, CEO of Chef Merito.
“Our partnership with Chef Merito will allow us to offer unparalleled service, expanded geographic reach, and an increasingly diverse product selection,” added Joe Nibali, Owner of La Fiesta. “We’re excited to join forces with the Chef Merito and Riverarch teams to unlock our next chapter of growth.”
“La Fiesta’s best-in-class track record of customer service and wide breadth of product offerings are highly complementary to Chef Merito’s unmatched flavor profile and established brand positioning” said Andrew Barza, Principal with Riverarch. Brian Blake, Director with Riverarch, added, “Both management teams have done an excellent job of building strong businesses within the growing Hispanic foods market, and we look forward to joining forces to create a highly compelling platform for future growth.”
“Our unwavering confidence in the branded, ethnic seasoning category continues to grow, driven by the remarkable opportunities it presents,” added George Sent, Managing Director at Cascadia. “We are genuinely excited to be a part of this union of leading Hispanic brands, and we wholeheartedly embrace the potential it brings.”
Related Transactions
This acquisition represents another successful transaction for Cascadia in the food, beverage & agribusiness sector. Past transactions include:
has acquired a majority stake in
has been recapitalized by
has been acquired by
