Charlottesville, VA, August 12, 2021 – Quad-C Management, Inc. (“Quad-C”), a leading middle market private equity firm, announced that it has recently completed a majority investment in Village Gourmet Investment Holdings, LLC (“Village Gourmet” or the “Company”), a producer of premium authentic branded and private label protein and snacking products. The Company offers products through five specialty heritage brands: Three Little Pigs, Fabrique Délices, Longhini Sausage, Uncle Charley’s Sausage Co. and Esposito’s Finest Quality Sausage.
The platform was launched in 2015 with the initial brand acquisition of Three Little Pigs. Over the last five years, the Company has completed four additional acquisitions, with each acquisition adding a new specialty heritage brand to the Village Gourmet portfolio in line with consumer demand driving growth in the small-batch protein and snacking categories, especially with a focus on premium ingredients and clean labels. Overall, Village Gourmet operates four SQF-certified facilities across the U.S. and is comprised of a national marketing and sales network, with their products sold nationwide through specialty and national retail, foodservice, meal kit providers, eCommerce, mass and club channels. The companies within Village Gourmet have over 200 years of history of winning consumer loyalty through a shared commitment to time-honored recipes and high-quality ingredients.
“We are excited to have an experienced new partner in Quad-C to support us with additional resources as we continue to scale the business organically and through continued strategic acquisitions,” said Dave Kemp, CEO of Village Gourmet. “Our shared vision is to build a leading premium authentic branded protein and snacking platform during our partnership together. We see enormous opportunity in the marketplace for continued growth and believe we have a likeminded partner in Quad-C to help our team execute our growth plan.”
“The partnership we have solidified with Dave Kemp and his team highlights the cornerstone of Quad-C’s investment philosophy,” said Michael Brooks, Partner at Quad-C. “We believe in backing the vision of talented, growth focused executives to help them continue to build their businesses. At Village Gourmet, there are numerous growth levers from a customer, channel and product category perspective organically and through add-on acquisitions, which will be central to the go forward strategy.”
“Village Gourmet fits extremely well with Quad-C's investment criteria for the food sector, which is a renewed area of focus for our firm," said Chris Tollefsen, Vice President at Quad-C. "The Company's products are aligned with several consumer themes that are driving high growth rates in the specialty protein and snacking categories, including a focus on premium, high quality ingredients, clean labels, high protein diets, adoption and loyalty to authentic brands, increased frequency of snacking, and perimeter of the store shopping."
Stifel served as exclusive financial advisor to Village Gourmet and White & Case LLP served as legal counsel to Quad-C.
Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia, Quad-C is a middle market private equity firm focused on investing in well-established business and consumer services, food & beverage and consumer products, healthcare, industrials, specialty distribution and transportation / logistics companies. In its three-decade history, Quad-C has invested over $3.6 billion of capital in more than 70 platform companies. The Quad-C team is committed to partnering with entrepreneurs and management teams to accelerate growth and create long-term value. Learn more about Quad-C at www.quadcmanagement.com.
Village Gourmet is a producer of premium authentic branded and private label fine meats, charcuterie and specialty snacking products. Village Gourmet offers products through five specialty brands, including Three Little Pigs, Fabrique Délices, Longhini Sausage, Uncle Charley’s Sausage Co. and Esposito’s Finest Quality Sausage. Visit: www.village-gourmet.com
Michael Brooks
Partner
434-979-2070
info@qc-inc.com