Dawn Foods has entered into an agreement to sell its North American frozen baked goods manufacturing business to Rise Baking Company. This strategic business decision will allow Jackson, Michigan-headquartered Dawn to focus on its core ingredients business, concentrate investment and execution on delivering growth and product innovation across its ingredients portfolio.
The pending purchase will expand Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Rise Baking Company’s strategic North American manufacturing footprint and baked goods product portfolio.
“The sale is the right move and enables us to continue to leverage our insights to develop groundbreaking bakery ingredient innovations and invest in our ingredient plants and digital future,” said Carrie Jones-Barber, chief executive officer of Dawn Foods. “For some time, the frozen bakery market has been consolidating and this sale gives our frozen business and team members a new home at a company where frozen bakery is the focus.”
The transaction includes Dawn’s North America frozen production plants in York, Pennsylvania; Atlanta, Georgia; Manteno, Illinois and Mexico, Missouri. Workers at those facilities, as well as employees leading and supporting the business and associated customer relationships, will all transition to the Rise Baking Company.
Rise specializes in making premium cookies, dessert bars, artisan breads and flatbreads. It is a premier supplier to the in-store bakery, foodservice and convenience channels in North America.
This acquisition will mark Rise’s seventh purchase since 2013. Upon completion of the deal, its product offering will expand to include cakes, muffins, croissants and cinnamon rolls across 11 facilities in the United States and Canada.
“Rise prides itself on a culture of customer focus, teamwork and innovation,” said Mike Schultz, its chief executive officer. “The Dawn frozen bakery division is a perfect fit as we look to bring additional products and innovation to the marketplace.”
