Shansby Group Acquires Garden of Eatin' Natural Food Company

The Shansby Group, a San Francisco-based investment partnership, has acquired Garden of Eatin', a branded organic and natural food company based in Los Angeles.

Garden of Eatin' provides a line of natural tortilla chips and other natural and organic products. The company is well known for its 1986 introduction of the original Blue Chips, the first corn chips made from stone ground Native American blue corn.

"This acquisition is consistent with our ongoing plan to consolidate several companies in the highly fragmented natural foods industry, while at the same time growing our portfolio of natural and organic food companies," said J. Gary Shansby, The Shansby Group's Managing General Partner. "Garden of Eatin's strong name recognition and brand loyalty makes it an excellent fit with our other companies, and plans are currently underway for a public offering of our organic and natural foods businesses in 1998."

Garden of Eatin', which was founded in 1971, provides food products made from certified organically grown grains, beans and vegetables. No preservatives, MSG, artificial colors or flavors are used in any of its products. Company founder, Al Jacobson, will provide consulting services to The Shansby Group's portfolio of natural food companies, and will continue to have an ownership interest in the company.

The Shansby Group's current other natural foods companies are: Dana Alexander, makers of the premium snack, Terra Chips; Arrowhead Mills, a pioneer in the natural and organic cereal and grain business; and DeBoles Nutritional Foods, a maker of natural pastas. Last month, Dana Alexander was merged with Arrowhead Mills.