December 2, 2021

Benford Capital Partners Management, L.P. (“Benford Capital” or “BCP”), a Chicago-based private equity investment firm, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Brothers International Food, LLC (“Brothers” or the “Company”), has completed the acquisition of Dennick FruitSource, LLC (“Dennick”), in partnership with Dennick’s founders.  The combination of these two leading B2B ingredients companies results in a significantly larger and more diversified customer base, and a broader product portfolio supported by a best-in-class, global supplier network.

Founded in 2000 and based in Tampa, Dennick is a value-added supplier of tropical fruit juices, concentrates, and purees to global CPG companies, operating a similar business model to Brothers’ large and growing B2B fruit ingredients division. Brothers also has a separate but complimentary branded and private label healthy snack division, where it is a leader in the freeze-dried fruit segment.  In connection with Benford Capital’s investment in Brothers in December 2020, the Company initiated a targeted search for complementary add-on acquisitions.

“Dennick’s founders and their employees have built a terrific company with outstanding and long-tenured customer and supplier relationships,” said Brothers Founder and CEO, Travis Betters. “We have a unique opportunity to capitalize on significant cross-selling opportunities through the joint efforts of our combined teams.”

BCP, Brothers, and Dennick will continue investing in sales, marketing, operations and new product development in the B2B fruit ingredients and healthy snack divisions. Both Brothers and Dennick will continue to operate under their respective names and maintain their current operations in Rochester, NY and Tampa, FL, respectively.

Commenting on the new investment, Benford Capital Managing Director Ben Riefe added, “Brothers’ first add-on acquisition represents an important milestone in our value creation plan to further consolidate the highly fragmented B2B fruit ingredients space. The Dennick acquisition significantly expands the Company’s customer base, end-product, and channel exposure for its portfolio of tropical fruit ingredients.”

Benford Capital Vice President Brendan Green added, “Dennick represents Benford Capital’s 5^th food related investment, an industry area of focus for the firm. We are excited to leverage the collective experience of this exceptional management team and our Executive Partners to help Brothers realize its organic and acquisition driven growth goals in the years ahead.”

ABOUT BENFORD CAPITAL PARTNERS

Founded in 2004, Benford Capital is a Chicago-based private equity firm focused on buying and building leading lower middle market companies in partnership with founders and management.  Since inception, Benford Capital has acquired 32 companies, including several add-on acquisitions, and currently owns 13 platform companies. Industry areas of focus include industrial technology, consumer products and food, B2B e-commerce, and agricultural products and services.  For more information, please visit www.benfordcapital.com.

Please contact Ben Riefe (ben@benfordcapital.com) or Brendan Green (brendan@benfordcapital.com) with any questions or add-on acquisition ideas for Brothers.