Kraft Heinz Announces Agreement to Acquire Majority Stake in Just Spices – a Technology-Enabled Direct-to-Consumer Business

Deal Further Accelerates Kraft Heinz’s International Growth Strategy Focused on Taste Elevation

PITTSBURGH & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 2021-- The Kraft Heinz Company (Nasdaq: KHC) (“Kraft Heinz”) announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire an 85% stake in Germany-based Just Spices GmbH (“Just Spices”). The remaining 15% ownership stake will be retained by Just Spices’ three founders, who will continue on with the company and focus on driving the business and its international growth.

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The Kraft Heinz Company announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire an 85% stake in Germany-based Just Spices GmbH. The remaining 15% ownership stake will be retained by Just Spices’ three founders, who will continue on with the company and focus on driving the business and its international growth. (Photo: JUST SPICES)

Launched in 2014, Just Spices is an innovative start-up, trailblazing the high-growth taste elevation category with annual sales of approximately €60 million. Its 170-plus product portfolio includes spice blends, salad dressings, and easy-to-prepare “In Minutes” blends for diverse meal occasions ranging from breakfast and light snacks to salads and baking, with a broad range of savory, sweet, classic and exotic flavors. Just Spices’ rapidly growing spice revolution business sells approximately 70% of its ready-made and one-step spice blends directly to consumers, with its remaining sales through major grocery retailers both in-store and online in Germany, Spain, Austria, and Switzerland.

Just Spices’ data-driven product innovation has successfully been geared towards the needs of today’s Gen Y and Gen Z consumer, with approximately 1.6 million followers across the company’s social media platforms. Its advanced analytics knowledge has enabled Just Spices to create and identify early consumer trend signals, foster product innovation, understand customer sentiment, and optimize consumer targeting.

“This is a great opportunity to further accelerate our growth agenda by strengthening our ability to anticipate trends in consumer tastes and preferences, as well as our speed to innovate,” said Rafael Oliveira, International Zone President at Kraft Heinz. “We will leverage our scale and agility to accelerate Just Spices’ business in the fast-growing taste elevation market beyond its current German base and its recent market entries in Spain, Austria, and Switzerland. We also see tremendous potential to strengthen and enhance our own direct-to-consumer operations and go-to-market expansion.”

“In the last few years, Just Spices has been further strengthening its successful omni-channel approach, with some of the best-in-class direct-to-consumer analytics in the food space. We are extremely excited by the potential for expansion that comes from combining Just Spices’ innovation and brand power with the Kraft Heinz team and the scale they bring to the table,” said Florian Falk, Just Spices CEO and one of the company’s three founders.

The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including merger control approval, and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022.

ABOUT THE KRAFT HEINZ COMPANY

We are driving transformation at The Kraft Heinz Company (Nasdaq: KHC), inspired by our Purpose, Let's Make Life Delicious. Consumers are at the center of everything we do. With 2020 net sales of approximately $26 billion, we are committed to growing our iconic and emerging food and beverage brands on a global scale. We leverage our scale and agility to unleash the full power of Kraft Heinz across a portfolio of six consumer-driven product platforms. As global citizens, we're dedicated to making a sustainable, ethical impact while helping feed the world in healthy, responsible ways. Learn more about our journey by visiting www.kraftheinzcompany.com or following us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

ABOUT JUST SPICES

Just Spices was founded in Dusseldorf by Florian Falk, Ole Strohschnieder and Bela Seebach in 2014. It supplies numerous spice blends and pure spices, quick-fix meal kits through its own e-retail offering, third-party online marketplaces and an increasing presence in traditional offline food retail sectors. Just Spices inspires a growing consumer base to refine their own dishes and become creative in the kitchen. In 2018 the spice manufacturer also launched the Just Spices IN MINUTES “fix” meal kits category and in 2020 they launched their salad dressing range online and in retail trade. With numerous “fix” meal preparations, the company has been setting new standards for the fast and easy preparation of modern dishes in everyday life. The company now inspires more than 1.6 million followers on its social media channels like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. On TikTok, Just Spices regularly achieves several million views on its videos. With more than 150 employees, Just Spices continues to make good on its vision of attracting more people to cook better, healthier meals. Above all, Just Spices means passion, high-quality products with no additives. But the most important principle is to make delicious food even more delicious, getting as many people as possible to cook with joy and pride. Spice up your life at justspices.com, follow us @justspices on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, and become a fan on Facebook.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains a number of forward-looking statements. Words such as “will,” “accelerate,” “strengthen,” “leverage,” “drive,” “enhance,” “bring,” “see,” “anticipate,” and variations of such words and similar future or conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the stock and assets included in the proposed purchase, expected benefits of the proposed purchase, impacts of the proposed purchase on Kraft Heinz’s business, financial results, opportunities, and future plans, that the purchase is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory clearances, the timing of closing, and other statements that are not historical facts, each of which is based on Kraft Heinz’s current beliefs, expectations, estimates, and projections. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and beyond Kraft Heinz’s control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Those factors include, but are not limited to, the timing of or failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals or to satisfy any of the other conditions to the purchase, Kraft Heinz’s ability to achieve intended benefits of the purchase, the expected costs of the transaction, the success of business transitions, and the risk factors set forth in Kraft Heinz’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Kraft Heinz’s most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Kraft Heinz disclaims and does not undertake any obligation to update, revise, or withdraw any forward-looking statement in this press release, except as required by applicable law or regulation.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211210005079/en/

Alex Abraham (media)
Alex.Abraham@kraftheinz.com

Christopher Jakubik, CFA (investors)
ir@kraftheinz.com

Source: The Kraft Heinz Company