Hearthside Food Solutions

Last updated
Hearthside Food Solutions LLC
Founded2009
Founder Rich Scalise
Headquarters,
United States
Key people
Darlene Nicosia

Chief Executive Officer [1]
Rich Scalise

Chairman and Founder
Productscontract manufacturing, including bars, baked goods, fresh and frozen entrees, and food packaging
Owners Charlesbank Capital Partners and Partners Group [2]
Website www.hearthsidefoods.com

Hearthside Food Solutions, LLC is an American manufacturer of food products which has been implicated in workplace safety violations and the use of immigrant child labor. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

On May 28, 2013, Post Holdings purchased the branded and private label cereal, granola and snacks business of Hearthside Food Solutions, which included the Golden Temple, Peace Cereal, Sweet Home Farm and Willamette Valley Granola Company brands, originally Yogi Bhajan's Sikh Dharma International's Golden Temple of Oregon's cereal division. [10] Post combined this business with Attune Foods.

In 2014, Hearthside was acquired by Goldman Sachs Group and Vestar Capital Partners. [11] In 2018, Goldman Sachs sold its interest in Hearthside to Charlesbank Capital Partners and Partners Group. [2] [12]

In 2021, Hearthside acquired from Weston Foods, a unit of George Weston Limited, six North American locations that produce cookies, crackers, cones, wafers and related baked products. [13]

In 2024, Hearthside filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after being a part of a child labor scandal in 2023. However, the reasons for the bankruptcy were not connected to the scandal. See IHeart.com. The company has reached a deal with its lenders to shed almost $2 billion worth of debt. [14]

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References

  1. "Hearthside Food Solutions names Darlene Nicosia CEO". Hearthside Foods. 4 August 2022. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  2. 1 2 "Charlesbank Capital Partners and Partners Group to acquire Hearthside Food Solutions". www.partnersgroup.com (Press release). 17 April 2018. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  3. Dreier, Hannah (2023-03-03). "Searching for the Faces of Migrant Child Labor". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  4. Salisbury, Danielle | (2023-02-27). "Food processor exposed for illegally employing minors in Grand Rapids, says its reviewing practices". mlive. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  5. Coyne, Andy (2023-02-28). "US snacks firm Hearthside Food Solutions implicated in US child labour probe". Just Food. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  6. "hearthside-food-solutions | Violation Tracker". violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  7. "US Department of Labor finds Hearthside Food Solutions violates federal safety procedures for 20th time in 5 years". US Department of Labor (Press release). Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  8. "Flour power: Grand Rapids area gains reputation as snack food center". Crain's Detroit Business. 2013-09-06. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  9. "Report on child labor reverberates in West Michigan". Crain's Detroit Business. 2023-03-02. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  10. "Post Holdings Acquires Organic and Natural Cereal, Granola and Snacks Business of Hearthside Food Solutions". Post Holdings, Inc. May 28, 2013. Archived from the original on May 2, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  11. "Private equity-backed food processor Hearthside acquired by Goldman". Crain's Detroit Business. 2014-03-28.[ permanent dead link ]
  12. "Goldman Sachs arm mulls sale of suburban snack company". Crain's Chicago Business. 2018-01-15. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  13. "Hearthside Foods Completes Weston Foods Ambient Division Asset Acquisition". Hearthside Foods. 29 December 2021. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  14. "Private Equity-Backed Snack Maker Hearthside Files Bankruptcy". Bloomberg Law. November 22, 2024. Retrieved November 25, 2024.