Mars completes acquisition of nutritious meal company Kevin’s Natural Foods

McLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today Mars, Incorporated, a family-owned, global leader in confectionery, food, and pet care products and services, announced the successful completion of its acquisition of Kevin’s Natural Foods, a high-growth, nutritious meal company. Kevin’s Natural Foods joins the Mars Food & Nutrition segment, complementing its portfolio of leading food brands and recent product innovations. Kevin’s will play a key role in Mars Food & Nutrition’s ongoing journey to enable delicious, healthier eating to be part of consumers’ daily lives, while Mars will help Kevin’s to continue to grow, innovate, and bring its portfolio of products to more people.

Shaid Shah, Global President, Mars Food & Nutrition said: “I am excited to welcome Kevin’s Natural Foods and its talented Associates to the Mars Food & Nutrition family. With its high quality, nutritious, and convenient products, which never compromise on flavor, Kevin’s Natural Foods has its finger on the pulse of how consumers want to eat today. We look forward to working with the Kevin’s team to help them continue to grow, innovate, and reach even more consumers, delivering our purpose: Better Food Today. A Better World Tomorrow.”

Kevin McCray, President and Co-Founder of Kevin’s Natural Foods, stated: “This is an important milestone for Kevin’s Natural Foods, and I want to thank every colleague at Kevin’s whose hard work has brought us here. I am excited to continue to build on our success and grow as part of Mars Food & Nutrition. With their passion for food and commitment to nurturing and growing founder-led, purpose-driven brands, we could not have found a better partner to take us to the next level.”

Advisors

Citi served as Mars’ financial advisor, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett acted as Mars’ legal advisor.

Wells Fargo Securities served as Kevin’s Natural Foods’ exclusive financial advisor, and Sheppard Mullin acted as Kevin’s Natural Foods’ legal advisor.

About Mars, Incorporated

For more than a century, Mars, Incorporated has been driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. This common purpose unites our 140,000+ Associates. It is at the center of who we are as a global, family-owned business, and it fuels how we are transforming, innovating, and evolving to make a positive impact on the world.

Every year, our diverse and expanding portfolio of quality confectionery, food, and pet care products and services delights millions of people and supports millions of pets. With around $48 billion in annual sales, we produce some of the world’s best-loved brands including Ben’s Original™, Masterfoods®, DOLMIO®, CESAR®, CocoaVia®, DOVE®, EXTRA®, KIND®, M&M’s®, SNICKERS®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, and WHISKAS®. We are creating a better world for pets through nutrition, breakthrough programs in diagnostics, wearable health monitoring, DNA testing, pet welfare, and comprehensive veterinary care with AniCura, BANFIELD™, BLUEPEARL™, Linnaeus, and VCA™.

We know we can only be truly successful if our partners and the communities in which we operate prosper. The Mars Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency, and Freedom – inspire our Associates to act every day to help create a better world tomorrow in which the planet, its people, and pets can thrive.

Mars Food & Nutrition is a segment of Mars, Incorporated with 2,000 Associates across 30 countries. It has some of the world’s leading food brands: Ben’s Original™, Masterfoods®, SEEDS OF CHANGE®, Tasty Bite®, foodspring™, and DOLMIO®.

For more information about Mars, please visit www.mars.com.

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About Kevin’s Natural Foods

Kevin's Natural Foods is a line of healthy entrées, sides, and sauces on a mission to make clean eating taste delicious while seamlessly fitting into any lifestyle. Co-founded by Kevin McCray, who battled a severe auto-immune disorder for years and found that nothing helped consistently until he discovered a paleo-friendly diet— Kevin's Natural Foods was born from his desire to help others eat healthier. Kevin's flavorful, sous-vide entrées and signature Paleo, Keto and Gluten-Free certified sauces allow home chefs to 'Hack Healthy' by preparing delicious meals in five minutes. With strict nutritious standards, entrees and sauces contain zero refined sugar, artificial ingredients, grains, soy, antibiotics or hormones. Available online at kevinsnaturalfoods.com, on the shelves of coveted grocery retailers like Whole Foods, Costco, Target, Publix, Albertsons and through Amazon. Kevin’s Natural Foods is dedicated to clean eating, and a clean planet and has achieved the distinction as a Certified B Corporation™. A true market disruptor, Kevin's is the first clean refrigerated entrée brand, and challenges the notion that proper nutrition can't be as delicious as it is healthy.

For more information about Kevin’s Natural Foods, please visit kevinsnaturalfoods.com. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.