AB Mauri North America Acquiring Specialty Blending Firm

Yeast and bakery ingredient products and solutions provider AB Mauri North America formed an agreement with Flowers Foods Inc. to acquire the Thomasville, GA-based company’s subsidiary Specialty Blending Co. LLC, a bread and sweet goods mix manufacturer near Cedar Rapids, IA, Flowers Foods announced Tuesday in a press release.

“The acquisition of Specialty Blending will further strengthen our North American bakery ingredients business representing a unique opportunity to combine the global technology strength of AB Mauri together with a high-quality and well-positioned ingredients blending operation,” said Mark Prendergast, president of AB Mauri North America, in a statement.

The transaction includes Specialty Blending’s 44,000-sq-ft mix and milling operation. Several blending lines are on site, with two dedicated to whole-grain bread concentrates and a third for sweet goods mixes for products like doughnuts and honey buns. Specialty Blending’s facility also contains a specialty mill operation suited for ancient grains, organic grains, and custom blends.

“Specialty Blending has supplied our bakeries with high-quality fresh bread mixes and ingredients since we acquired the business in 2009,” said Allen Shiver, president and chief executive officer of Flowers Foods in the release. “We look forward to continuing that relationship now as a customer of AB Mauri.”

Currently the plant produces specialty bread, cake, doughnut, muffin, brownie, and cookie mixes, in addition to blends and mixes for crackers and biscuits.

AB Mauri, regionally headquartered out of St. Louis, MO, also owns and operates bakery ingredients plants in North America at Greenville, TX and Wilsonville, OR. 

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