Can two legacy juice manufacturers become a major force in a stiff category? That’s the goal for California-based Perricone Farms after it announced this week it had acquired family-owned Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company for an undisclosed sum.
Speaking to BevNET, Perricone Farms CEO Bob Rovzar said the business is looking towards national and international expansion with the purchase of Florida-based Natalie’s. The combined business will maintain both brands, while utilizing production facilities on both coasts to scale production and shore up the supply chain in a time where quality fruit supply is challenged.
“From our side, it would have been one of these dreams for us to be able to partner with a company like Natalie’s,” Rovzar said. “So when we had the ability to get involved, we jumped at it and just feel really excited about the combination being really well poised to provide a premier product.”
Natalie’s marketing head Natalie Sexton (the brand’s namesake) will remain with the combined business as CMO, while her mother – founder and CEO Marygrace Sexton – will move into an advisory role.
Rovzar said that Perricone intends to “virtually bring over the team intact” from Natalie’s.
“The synergies are perfectly aligned,” said Natalie Sexton. “We have very similar brand values, our ethos are aligned, and their commitment to quality and customer service matches ours. And so you couldn’t find a better partner to really help, one, set the tone and foundation to continue to build Natalie’s, but to really fuel us for growth in the future.”
Natalie Sexton said that the company will now be putting together its “go to market strategy” in the coming weeks, but utilizing both brand names will be a core part of the plan.
According to Marygrace Sexton, the two companies initially connected as Natalie’s was looking to expand its presence in California and had been seeking to forge relationships with other manufacturers as it worked to figure out whether it should find its own West Coast manufacturing site. Ultimately, conversations with Perricone Farms turned from potential partnerships to a full-on acquisition.
“As we continue to grow, over the past seven years our volume was increasing at a very healthy rate,” said Natalie Sexton. “The question about securing fruit for the quality that we produce became evident that it needed to be more solidified.”
Aside from immediate access to Natalie’s Florida production plant, Rovzar said the merger has strong synergies for both brands; while Perricone Farms core juice business has primarily focused on foodservice and private label with a more limited retail presence for its branded offerings. Meanwhile, Natalie’s has long maintained steady growth in brick-and-mortar retail in the U.S. with a broader product portfolio that includes classic citrus fruit juices like orange and grapefruit, as well single-serve HPP smoothies and lemonades.
According to Circana, retail sales of Natalie’s orange juice in U.S. MULO and c-store was up 4.6% in the 52-week period ending July 14, 2024 to around $31.3 million, while the overall refrigerated orange juice segment fell -4.4%. Sales of its lemonades grew 27.4% and its blended fruit juices were up 33.8% in the same period.
Natalie’s has also grown sales globally with a presence in Korea, Japan, France, the Maldives and elsewhere, Natalie Sexton noted.
The acquisition is the latest deal for a category that has seen some reduced interest from strategics while independent brands have looked to consolidate. In 2022, Bolthouse Farms purchased HPP juice brand Evolution Fresh for an undisclosed sum, and Suja – under the ownership of private equity firm Paine Schwartz Partners – acquired juice shot maker Vive Organic. A year earlier, PepsiCo divested its Tropicana and Naked brands to PAI Partners; now operating under the Tropicana Brands Group, the firm is seeking to refresh the brand’s market position by operating as a “$3 billion startup.”