Florida Food Products acquires Javo

Javo represents the third FFP acquisition completed since the Ardian and MidOcean partnership formed less than a year ago

Florida Food Products (FFP), one of the world’s largest independent providers of natural ingredients has reached an agreement to acquire Javo Beverage Company subject to customary closing conditions. Javo is a natural extractor of clean label coffee, tea, and botanicals with a focus on beverage applications. Javo is widely recognized for its proprietary extraction capabilities that facilitate the delivery of exceptional cold brew coffee solutions to industry-leading consumer brands, manufacturers, and restaurants.

FFP is an innovator, formulator and producer of naturally sourced clean label ingredients. Its products provide nutrition, improve texture and flavor, extend shelf life and provide consumers with clean label and natural products. FFP is one of the largest independent providers of clean-label ingredients, and the company’s portfolio focuses exclusively on natural solutions. FFP’s portfolio of natural ingredients has applications across every segment of the food and beverage industry, along with a rapidly growing presence in the health and wellness category.

In 2021, Ardian, a private investment house, acquired a majority stake in FFP from MidOcean Partners and established a new partnership to accelerate FFP’s long-term growth objectives. Under this partnership, FFP has completed the acquisition of Comax, T-Bev, and now Javo. With the support of the Ardian and MidOcean teams, FFP has scaled dramatically and has more than doubled over the last year, with revenue approaching $300 million.

FFP’s portfolio diversified

The addition of Javo further diversifies FFP’s portfolio, adding a number of new natural ingredients, while significantly enhancing its growth profile. FFP plans to use its expanded capabilities to offer innovative solutions that provide consumers great tasting, clean label products with the health attributes and transparency they desire. As part of FFP’s growth plans, the company continues to expand its talented executive team, accelerate its investment in innovation and enhance its capabilities and services with new facilities, equipment and locations.

“We’re ecstatic for Javo to join the FFP platform,” says Jim Holdrieth, FFP CEO. “Javo’s best-in-class products are supported by a talented team and unique manufacturing capabilities that will drive a series of innovative new product launches. As part of the FFP family, we’re confident that Javo can offer our customers compelling new solutions that build on our deep portfolio of clean label ingredients.”

“Our investment in Javo is a testament to the differentiated capabilities and resources that Ardian has brought to the FFP platform,” says Thibault Basquin, deputy head of the Ardian buyout team. “As we move forward, the FFP team will be able to leverage further our extensive experience in the ingredient sector to efficiently evaluate new opportunities and be the buyer of choice for natural ingredient businesses.”

“Javo is an impressive organization, which will play a critical role in our continued expansion in the beverage category,” says Christopher Sand, managing director in the Ardian buyout team. “Javo’s innovative products complement FFP’s portfolio of natural ingredients and will position the Company for accelerated growth. We intend to continue our strategy of building the world’s largest independent provider of clean label ingredients by expanding our portfolio of best-in-class products, acquiring additional clean label ingredient businesses, and investing in our talented team, advanced facilities, and innovative pipeline.”

“The addition of Javo to the FFP platform is a continuation of the exceptional growth that we have seen since our initial investment in 2018, and further solidifies our position in natural beverage ingredients and solutions,” says Steven Loeffler, principal at Midocean Partners. “Building upon the solid foundation we have established over the last four years, FFP is poised to dramatically increase its scale as it launches exciting new systems and expands into a series of high-growth adjacencies. We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Jim Holdrieth, the FFP management team, and Ardian as we progress in this exciting new phase for FFP.”

The transaction is anticipated to close in the third quarter of 2022. Houlihan Lokey acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Javo. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.