Investment firm acquires maker of frozen breakfast foods

The Greenwich investment firm that owns Hungry Jack pancake mix and syrup is adding to its breakfast lineup by acquiring De Wafelbakkers, which sells frozen pancakes, waffles and French toast nationwide, including in Connecticut chains like Stop & Shop, ShopRite, Big Y and Acme.

Brynwood Partners did not state what it paid for De Wafelbakkers, with the manufacturer employing 650 people at its headquarters plant in North Little Rock, Ark. and another facility outside Atlanta.

Brynwood buys and runs food companies. Its current portfolio includes Chicago-based Hometown Food Company, which sells Hungry Jack, Arrowhead Mills,

Pillsbury products and pancake mixes under the Funfetti brand. Brynwood also owns Stamfordbased Harvest Hill Beverage Company, which sells Juicy Juice, SunnyD and Veryfine juices.

Brynwood CEO Henk Hartong III said Monday that an investment bank reached out to his company on potential interest for De Wafelbakkers.

“It’s interesting to see this private equity firm in Greenwich that has quietly over the last few years amassed a pretty significant position in the food and beverage business,” Hartong said. “We now have 16 factories ... and $2.2 billion in aggregate sales. That rivals some of the smaller, publicly traded food companies that are out there.”

Brynwood is acquiring De Wafelbakkers from Anschutz

Corp., which picked it up as one component in its 2011 acquisition of the parent company that publishes the Oklahoman newspaper in Oklahoma City.

De Wafelbakkers was created in 1986 by Meyer’s Bakery, whose namesake founder Charles Meyer is one of about 90 inductees into the Baking Hall of Fame maintained by the American Society of

Baking; its ranks include Margaret Rudkin, the founder of Norwalk-based Pepperidge Farm.

Kellogg’s dominates the frozen waffle aisle with Eggo, which in February began selling Eggo Stuffed Pancake Bites with chocolate centers. Rival brands including Van’s, Kodiak Cakes and Nature’s Path.

The deal pushes Brynwood’s total headcount to 4,100 people, spread across a multitude of brands like Buitoni pasta and sauces, “take and bake” frozen pizzas from Great Kitchens, and a contract bottler called Carolina Beverage Group.

Hartong said the pandemic was an extraordinary challenge for both Brynwood’s companies and De Wafelbakkers, which have dealt with worker shortages as a result of the pandemic even as demand spiked, as people stocked up pantries during stay-at-home orders nationally.

“Our businesses were operating full-on during the pandemic,” Hartong said. “We were doing everything we could to keep everyone as safe as we possibly could, but we recognized that we had a responsibility as food manufacturers to keep moving and keep grocery stores stocked. ... They worked every Saturday, every Sunday. I think at one point we only closed for Mother’s Day and Memorial Day from March to June — two days.”

Kellogg’s CEO described a similar rush during a February conference call.

“The pandemic presented us with a sampling event like none other, and we ... outpaced most of our categories giving us an excellent opportunity to communicate to and retain new and lapsed consumers,” said Kellogg’s CEO Steve Cahillane in February. “If I look at frozen, from the griddle — our Eggo business obviously, terrific year.”