B&G Foods continues to sell off brands with the divestment of Le Sueur vegetables

Dive Brief:

• B&G Foods sold its Le Sueur brand of premium sweet peas, green beans and carrots to McCall Farms for an undisclosed amount, according to a Friday press release.
• B&G intends to use the proceeds from the sale for general corporate purposes. These include paying debt, purchasing assets “useful” in the company’s business and paying taxes, fees and expenses related to the sale.
• The Le Sueur deal marks the latest vegetable brand divestiture for B&G. In the last few years, the one-time serial acquirer sold two of its tomato lines to a private equity company and divested its Green Giant U.S. canned vegetable business to Seneca Foods.

   

Dive Insight:

While B&G did not provide details behind the sale of Le Sueur, it is possible to glean insight following the sale of Green Giant in late 2023.

At the time, B&G said canned vegetables were a mature category with high working capital needs. The New Jersey company said it would have to increase debt to finance seasonal inventory, which is packed and held for an entire year. Le Sueur is likely to have many of the same challenges and is a much smaller brand in terms of revenue than Green Giant.

“Our sale of the Le Sueur brand represents continued progress in our ongoing efforts to reshape our portfolio, sharpen focus on our core brands and reduce long-term debt,” Casey Keller, president and CEO, said in Friday’s release. “The Le Sueur brand has performed very well for us over the years, and we believe it will continue to thrive under the ownership of McCall Farms.”

Two years ago B&G was “evaluating a possible divestiture” of some or all of its brands in the frozen and canned vegetable space, Keller said. 

The food maker has prioritized divesting of brands that have lower margins and cash flow, higher working capital needs or that do not fit with B&G’s core capabilities and business unit structure.