Specialty cheese manufacturer and distributor Heartisan Foods has been acquired by Gellert Global Group, which has built a major presence in the U.S. specialty cheese market through acquisitions and partnerships under its subsidiary, Atalanta Corp.
Heartisan was formed in 2021 through the simultaneous acquisition of three dairy producers — Red Apple Cheese, Barron County Cheese and Cheese Brothers — by Ronin Equity Partners in partnership with Landon Capital Partners. North Country Packaging was acquired and integrated by the Heartisan platform in June 2023.
According to Gellert, the combined platform offers more than 70 different cheese products in brick, round, slice, and snack forms.
What they are saying
“To turn Heartisan into a cohesive powerhouse, our investment partners embedded in with us, overhauled the back office, and helped us create a well-oiled infrastructure from processing to sales,” says Lori Henningfield, Heartisan chief commercial officer, in a release. “That gave us the base to expand everything from production to products rapidly.”
“The benefits we’ll be able to achieve with a diversified food group like Gellert Global’s Atalanta make this sale the natural next step in our evolution,” says Pratap Mukharji, Heartisan’s chairman of the board, in a statement.
“Consolidating Heartisan with a top-tier industry specialist is the best way to maximize value for everyone,” says Ronin managing partner and co-founder, David Feierstein, in a statement.
“More broadly, we’re seeing a wave of consolidation deals in an exceptionally fragmented cheese industry,” says Jesse Yao, Ronin’s co-founder and managing partner, in a release. “With demand at an apex for nutrient-rich dairy, we’ve seen heightened M&A interest for companies in the cheese category.”
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