The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., a Lake Success, New York-headquartered organic and natural products company with operations in North America, Europe and India, has established Rosetto Foods LLC, a joint venture managed by Steven Sands. Hain Celestial has a 49% minority interest in the newly formed entity.
As part of the strategic partnership with Rosetto Foods effective April 1, 2017, Hain Celestial licensed the intellectual property associated with its non-core Rosetto brand of frozen Italian foods to the joint venture. Rosetto Foods will operate the business and be responsible for executing its operating plan.
“We are pleased to enter into this strategic alliance with Steve Sands and his management team as we focus on our core natural and organic product portfolio and platforms for growth,” said Gary W. Tickle, chief executive officer of Hain Celestial North America. “They have an established track record with smaller better-for-you frozen food brands, with the right skill set to revive the Rosetto brand in a more meaningful way as part of their meal solutions offerings.”
“Rosetto’s brand equity and strong positioning with both retailers and consumers presents an extremely attractive opportunity to continue innovating in this exciting category,” said Sands, who is the co-chairman of Frozen Foods Partners (formerly known as Gourmet Dining), a packaged consumer products company specializing in the production, distribution and marketing of a wide variety of frozen food offerings packed under the Gourmet Dining, La Sabrosa and Tru Earth brands.
Rosetto stuffed pasta products, sold in the grocery and mass channels in North America, generated approximately $10 million in net sales for the year ended June 30, 2016, and was minimally accretive to the company’s earnings.
