General Mills has announced its intention to sell its Helper and Suddenly Salad brands to Eagle Family Food Group for $610 million. The Helper line includes the well-known Hamburger Helper brand, as well as Chicken Helper and Tuna Helper. The two brands registered $235 million in net sales for General Mills during its 2021 fiscal year. The transaction is expected to close early year, subject to regulatory approval.
According to Jon Nudi, General Mills group president, North America retail, “This transaction improves our North America Retail segment’s growth profile and allows us to increase our focus on brands and categories where we have the best opportunities to drive profitable growth.”
Last fall, General Mills sold its European dough business to France-based Cerelia and divested its European Yoplait yogurt operations. This April, General Mills agreed to buy Wisconsin-based frozen pizza crust company TNT Crust.
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On the acquisition of the Helper and Suddenly Salad brands, Bernard Kreilmann, chief executive officer of Eagle Foods, says, “We are builders of brands, categories, and people.” The Helper and Suddenly Salad brands, with strong heritage and high consumer awareness, are a perfect fit for what Eagle does best—investing in, innovating, and revitalizing brands to drive growth and nurture them to reach their full potential.
“We will leverage our core values of entrepreneurship, collaboration, and quality to grow all of our brands and further expand into the center of the store. We will immediately start expanding the positioning of these two iconic brands and bring consumers tasty, convenient, and affordable meal solutions.”
