PepsiCo acquires snack maker Bare Foods

While Coke goes “naughty” with its Japanese alcopop, rival PepsiCo goes “healthy” with the acquisition of Bare Foods, a food company that makes snacks like salt-and-vinegar beet chips and Granny Smith apple chips. PepsiCo did not disclose any financial details of the acquisition, announced at the end of May 2018.

The deal is widely interpreted as a shrewd move by PepsiCo to diversify its food and beverage portfolio and move towards more natural, less-processed foods that are sought after by increasingly health-conscious consumers.

Bare Foods, which does business as Bare Snacks, was founded in 2001 by a family-owned apple farm in Washington state that began selling packaged baked apple chips at Starbucks and Whole Foods.

After the closing of the deal, Bare Foods will continue to operate independently out of its San Francisco headquarters with its leadership reporting into Frito-Lay North America, the snack division of PepsiCo.