Dewey’s Bakery Eats Up Farm and Oven Snacks, Welcomes Eurazeo
Scott Livengood, owner of Dewey’s Bakery since acquiring the company in 2006, announces that Dewey’s is welcoming Eurazeo Brands as a new investor in the business with a $25 million minority investment. Eurazeo Brands partners with differentiated consumer brands with global growth potential and is investing in Dewey’s Bakery alongside Scott Livengood. Additional terms of the investment were not disclosed.
As a part of the transaction, Dewey’s has acquired Farm and Oven Snacks, a fast-growing brand known for its healthy baked snack products. Farm & Oven co-founders Mike Senackerib and Kay Allison will join the Dewey’s Bakery management team. Senackerib will serve as chief executive officer of Dewey’s, and Allison will become the company’s chief marketing officer. Scott Livengood will serve as executive chairman.
Senackerib is a seasoned food and beverage executive and brings deep category operating expertise to Dewey’s as CEO. Highly regarded as a leader and brand builder in the food industry, he has 30+ years of experience across a wide array of successful brands. Senackerib held senior executive and marketing roles at Nabisco (Mondelez), Kraft Foods, and Campbell Foods. He served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Nabisco’s entire portfolio of cookie and cracker brands, including Oreo’s, Ritz, Wheat Thins, Triscuit, and others. After an incredibly successful run with large companies, in 2017 he and Allison founded Farm and Oven.
Kay Allison, incoming chief marketing officer of Dewey’s, has spent her career creating brand innovations grounded in consumer insights. Prior to co-founding Farm & Oven, Kay founded and was CEO of Energy Infuser, an insight-inspired innovation agency. The company worked with major clients including Kraft Foods, Avon Products, Hewlett-Packard, PepsiCo, and Mondelez, helping to collectively generated $1.5 billion+ in revenue from new products.
Senackerib comments, “I am thrilled to be joining Dewey’s and to be partnering with Scott Livengood and Eurazeo Brands on this exciting opportunity. Scott and his team have created an exceptional product offering that we believe will garner continued success in the market as customers and consumers increasingly seek out authentic brands with high quality ingredients and delicious flavors. Having spent many years of my career working on some of the most iconic brands in this category, I am excited for the opportunity to be leading Dewey’s today.”
Livengood adds, “All of us at Dewey’s could not be more thrilled to be partnering with Eurazeo on this exciting new chapter of growth for our company. Dewey’s has established a strong presence in both specialty food retailers and supermarkets across the country driven by our second-to-none products, capabilities, and team; with the added help of Eurazeo’s deep resources and know-how, and Mike and Kay’s proven leadership, we aim to become a leader in our category in the years ahead. In the course of this preparation I have gained a deep respect for the Eurazeo Brands team. They will add incredible value and significantly elevate the trajectory of Dewey’s possibilities.”
Livengood also shared that the corporate headquarters and commercial baking facilities will remain in Winston-Salem and that expected growth will create new opportunities for team members and new jobs in the community. “In fact, we’re getting ready to hire 50 new employees to ramp up our production right now. It has also been gratifying to see Winston-Salem’s Dewey’s Bakery brand grow nationwide.”
Eurazeo Brands will partner with Dewey’s and leverage its proven brand building, operating, and consumer expertise to grow the Dewey’s branded product business in the years ahead, while also continuing to invest in Dewey’s longstanding private label relationships and its iconic retail stores. Investment proceeds will be used to accelerate and enhance Dewey’s marketing activities, including the continued development of a strong consumer community to support Dewey’s rapid expansion within the grocery channel, as well as enhancing Dewey’s manufacturing capabilities to service both its branded and private label customers.