Solina, a leading European producer of savory ingredient solutions for the food industry, signed an agreement to acquire Saratoga Food Specialties to continue its expansion in North America. The regulatory approval process is underway and the transaction is expected to close at the end of October 2022.
With operations in California, Illinois, and Nevada, and annual sales of $280M, Saratoga supplies Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) and food manufacturers with custom dry seasoning blends and liquid solutions such as sauces, dressings, and glazes. Upon closing, the Saratoga leadership team and its 500 employees will join Solina.
Like Solina, Saratoga combines market and consumer insights with culinary expertise, R&D infrastructure, and advanced procurement capabilities to support and guide its customers with extensive value-added services. Having shown a remarkable growth trajectory due to its strong service-driven approach, Saratoga represents a perfect fit with Solina's vision to establish a global customer-centric organization in which geographical proximity is key for long-lasting customer relationships.
Acquiring Saratoga accelerates Solina's footprint into North America, notably by adding liquid solutions to its existing dry seasoning capabilities, doubling its number of facilities in the region, and providing the North American organization with significant expertise in B2B (industry), foodservice (QSR) and retail.
The Saratoga acquisition is the third step in a North America expansion strategy that began in 2020 with the acquisition of Canadian foodservice leader Produits Alimentaires Berthelet. Solina established a presence in the US for the first time in 2021 with the acquisition of Asenzya, a Wisconsin-based provider of custom, dry savory solutions. With the acquisition of Saratoga, Solina will have four sites in the US and two in Canada that collectively mirror the breadth of the dry and liquid solution capabilities that the company possesses in Europe. The expanded set of North American capabilities will enable Solina to build contingency into its supply chain and leverage its European services and value proposition.
