QualiTech, a global manufacturer of plant nutrition, animal nutrition and food ingredient products and services, has acquired Ellison Bakery, a manufacturer of cookies, snack bars, crunches, toppings and inclusion ingredients for retail, foodservice and private-label end markets. 

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Ind., Ellison provides a range of bakery products and solutions including mix-ins, frozen novelty components and snack inclusions to a diverse mix of blue-chip customers and established and emerging brands. 

The acquisition of Ellison advances QualiTech’s plans to strategically expand the platform’s capabilities with synergistic products and ingredient solutions and drive future growth following MidOcean Partners’ investment in the company in 2023. MidOcean identified Ellison, a portfolio company of Tilia Holdings, LLC, as a priority add-on acquisition target early in the underwriting process due to the complementary nature of its products to the ingredient solutions that QualiTech provides.

“Bringing Ellison into the QualiTech family will be beneficial for both companies as well as our customers,” says Rick Pedersen, CEO of QualiTech. “Both organizations have rich legacies of bespoke R&D, differentiated customer service and superior product quality. As a combined platform, we will be able to scale services, build additional product capabilities, and unlock access to a larger addressable market. The acquisition accelerates QualiTech’s efforts to lead the industry in providing specialty ingredients that enhance the sensory components of consumers’ favorite foods and positions our business for long-term success.”

Stephanie Chattillion, CEO of Ellison Bakery, said, “We are excited to partner with QualiTech and to leverage MidOcean’s resources and expertise in the food business to drive success for the combined company. QualiTech’s approach to customer service uniquely aligns with our own culture and commitment to delivering high-quality products to our customers. We look forward to expanding the breadth of products that we can offer and creating a leading customized food inclusion and ingredients platform.”

Steven Loeffler, managing director at MidOcean Partners, adds: “The transformational combination of these two businesses, the first major acquisition following our investment in QualiTech, reinforces QualiTech’s position as a differentiated ingredients platform and provides an entry into compelling new product applications and end markets. We look forward to working with Rick, Stephanie and their teams as we continue identifying opportunities to enhance the platform’s capabilities through organic value creation initiatives and strategic M&A.”