General Mills announced Monday that it is buying organic food company Annie’s Homegrown. It bought the company for $820 million, in an effort to bulk up on its organic snacks.
Snacks were one of the only U.S. categories in which General Mills saw any growth in the last fiscal year. U.S. retail sales account for 75 percent of the company’s profits. With more and more consumers making conscious healthy food decisions, the purchase makes sense.
General Mills has been acquiring natural food companies since January 2000 when it purchased Muir Glen and Small Planet Foods. In 2012, it bought the LARABAR line of fruit and nut bars in 2008, and the Food Should Taste Good line of savory snacks.
Annie’s Homegrown, which started selling macaroni and cheese dinners in New England in 1989, has since expanded to frozen food, dressings, and snacks. The company saw $204 million in sales for 2014, a 20 percent bump from the year before. The news of the General Mills sale increased Annie’s stock 37 percent in after-hours trading, while General Mills stock stayed flat.