Acirca Purchases Millinas Finest from Spectrum Organic

Acirca Purchases Millinas Finest from Spectrum Organic

ARLINGTON, Va.--Acirca Inc. (www.acirca.com),based here, acquired the organic pasta sauce lines from Petaluma, Calif.-basedSpectrum Organic Products Inc. (www.spectrumorganic.com).Spectrums certified-organic sauce lines--Millinas Finest and Fruitti DiBosco--are the countrys second largest brand of organic pasta sauces behindFive Points, Calif.-based Muir Glen. According to Acirca, the company now has a22-percent market share of this food category. Acirca has acquired the sales andmarketing of these sauces, but other terms of the transaction were notdisclosed.

Acirca, which last year relaunched the Walnut Acres brand after purchasingthe company, stated that this acquisition will create a more diversifiedproduct line for the company. Acirca has the resources available to take thebusiness to a higher level than Spectrum could have accomplished in the nearterm, said Jethren Phillips, chief executive officer of Spectrum, which stillmarkets organic oil, butter and margarine products, as well as dietarysupplements. The transaction will provide Spectrum with new working capitalto invest in our rapidly growing core businesses of EFA [essential fatty acid]food and supplement products.

Acirca had been looking for an occasion to enter the sauce industry,according to Michael Neuwirth, corporate communications manager at Acirca. Wehad a business relationship with Spectrum that preceded and will succeed thisacquisition, particularly with their organic ingredients division, Neuwirthsaid. This acquisition has put their sauce business into a home with amanagement team [at Acirca] that wants to develop this business. The addition oforganic pasta sauces complements the existing line of soups and salsas. We see atremendous opportunity for cross-promotion among these categories because theyare so closely related to the fresh fruit and vegetable sector.