Hormel Foods Acquires Deli Meat Maker Columbus for $850MHormel Foods Acquires Deli Meat Maker Columbus for $850M

The owner of SPAM and the Applegate deli meats brand, Hormel Foods Corporation, entered into an agreement to acquire premium deli meats and salami maker Columbus Manufacturing Inc. from Chicago-based food and beverage private equity firm Arbor Investments for $850 million, the Austin, MN food company announced Tuesday.

“The acquisition of Columbus will serve as a catalyst for uniting all our deli businesses into one consumer-facing organization,” said Hormel’s president and chief executive officer, Jim Snee, in a statement. “This acquisition significantly enhances our scale in the deli by broadening our portfolio of products, customers, and consumers.”

In 2016, Columbus was named as one of the fastest growing top 5 pre-packaged deli brands in the U.S. and the top pre-packaged salame brand sold in the country, according to the company’s website.  Its annual sale total $300 million, with an anticipated growth rate of 5%, Hormel said.

“As a millennial-focused brand, Columbus has generated category-leading growth through a passionate commitment to quality, simplicity, and time-honored recipes,” Joe Ennen, chief executive officer of Columbus, said in the Hormel release. “In Hormel we are joining an organization whose values and culture perfectly align with our own.”

Hormel Foods owns other popular deli brands like Applegate and Jenni-O. Columbus Manufacturing will continue to operate from its present location in California, reporting to Hormel’s Refrigerated Foods segment.

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