Florida Food Products acquires tea ingredient firm Amelia Bay

Florida Food Products (FFP) has acquired tea ingredient supplier Amelia Bay, as it looks to strengthen its position in the clean label ingredients space.

Founded in 1989, Amelia Bay produces industrial-scale brewed tea, coffee and botanicals for use in product formulations.

Based in Eustis, Florida, FFP produces clean label food and beverage ingredient solutions through processes including extraction, fermentation, drying, and blending.

The company offers vegetable juice concentrates and derivatives for the meat, savoury, health and wellness markets.

FFP says that the acquisition of Amelia Bay will add a beverage platform to its ‘broad portfolio’.

“I am thrilled to partner with the Crandall family who have built an outstanding clean label tea and beverage platform business,” said FFP CEO Jim Holdrieth.

“This acquisition supports our overall mission of becoming the industry’s leading provider of ingredients from nature that work. The combination of FFP’s natural fruit and vegetable ingredients with Amelia Bay’s coffee, tea, and botanical offering expands our ability to provide customers an innovative, great-tasting, clean label beverage solution.”

Jason Crandall, Amelia Bay’s president, added: “We are extremely excited to partner with a company that has the scale and capabilities of FFP. This acquisition gives Amelia Bay access to new technologies and ingredients that will pave the way to creating the next generation of all-natural, clean label food and beverage ingredients.”

MidOcean Partners, a middle market private equity firm, is the controlling shareholder of Florida Food Products.

The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.