J&J Snack Foods acquires Thinsters cookie brand

MOUNT LAUREL, NJ. – J&J Snack Foods Corp. has acquired the Thinsters cookie brand from The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.Thinsters are thin, bite-size cookies formulated with ingredients perceived as clean. The brand was introduced in 2014 as Mrs. Thinsters, and was acquired in 2016 by Clearlake Capital Group, LP as part of the private equity firm’s purchase of That’s How We Roll, LLC. The brand was renamed Thinsters in 2019, and two years later was acquired along with Parmcrisps by the Hain Celestial Group for $259 million.“This acquisition is a natural fit for us, complementing our already vast offering of cookies and baked goods,” said Dan Fachner, president and chief executive officer of J&J Snack Foods. “Thinsters’ dedication to using high-quality, wholesome ingredients resonates perfectly with our growing customer base. We look forward to leveraging our strengths to expand distribution and introduce Thinsters cookies to a wider audience.”Other snack brands owned by J&J Snack Foods include SuperPretzel, Hola Churros and Funnel Cake.“Divesting Thinsters further streamlines our supply chain network and strengthens our ability to focus our efforts on driving greater reach and scale of our core better-for-you brands across our categories of focus,” said Wendy Davidson, president and CEO of Hain Celestial. “We are pleased to reach this agreement with J&J Snack Foods and are confident that the business will thrive under their leadership.”The acquisition of Thinsters and Parmcrisps was not positive for The Hain Celestial Group. A little more than a year after the acquisition the company recorded a pre-tax, non-cash impairment charge of $156 million related to the brands due to a significant loss of distribution, according to the company.“I think the thought was that the pacing of channel expansion would happen faster than the potential risk of channel concentration, and those two things were actually opposite,” Davidson said during a conference call on May 9, 2023, and discussing the impairment charge. “So, what you’re seeing right now is a factor of sort of recognizing where the brand sits today.”



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