Sabra-Obela, a manufacturer of spreads and dips jointly owned by Strauss Group Ltd. (TASE:STRS)and Pepsico, has sold its salsa dressing activity in the US to Stir Foods and Pacifica Foods, which manufacture packaged soups and sauces.
The deal, which was signed last week, reflects a $10.5 million value for Sabra's activity. The effect of the deal on the Strauss group's results is non-substantial.
"The sale of the salsa activity matches Sabra-Obela's strategy of focusing on its core business," Strauss said today. Sabra's core activity includes mainly humus, tahini, and guacamole sold under the Sabra brand name, while salsa was sold up until now under other brands.
Concerning the employees working on this activity, Strauss explained, "The buyers intend to continue employing Sabra's workers for the salsa activity."
Commenting on the deal, Sabra-Obela CEO Tomer Harpaz added, "We see that consumers in the US are adopting healthy food more and more, and consumption of humus as a daily food is increasing."
Sabra is the largest chilled dips and spreads company in the US.
As part of the health trend, more and more international companies that previously focused on food perceived as less healthy are now seeking to expand their activity to food perceived as healthy. Pepsico recently acquired Israeli company Sodastream International Ltd. (Nasdaq: SODA;TASE: SODA) for over $3 billion.
Sabra's monetary share of the humus market was 60% as of the end of June 2018, compared with 55% at the end of June 2017. The company's sales totaled NIS 680 million in the first half of 2018 and its operating profit was NIS 69 million, compared with NIS 56 million in the corresponding period last year.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 5, 2018
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