Benestar Brands, a Highlander Portfolio Company, Announces Acquisition of Arboleda Foods
December 3, 2019 – Chicago, IL | Benestar Brands, a leading salty snacks company with operations across the US and Mexico, today announced the acquisition of Arboleda Foods, holding company of “Chicas” branded tortilla chips. Based in Harbor City, CA, the family-owned and operated business has been manufacturing their unique, authentic chips and salsas since 2016.
Chicas tortilla chips are crafted in pure rice bran oil and topped with sea salt, a unique receipe with health benefits and no cholesterol or trans fats. Chicas also produces a homemade gourmet salsa. Irlanda Montes, founder and CEO, started the business by selling her salsa at Farmers Markets in Southern California. She wanted her customers to have a sturdy and delicious chip to try her salsa with, so she started brining her own homemade chips for sampling. Customers quickly realized Montes’ tortilla chips were like no other brands at the grocery store and began requesting to purchase the chips themselves. The authentic corn tortilla chips are now the flagship product for the Chicas brand and sold in over 100 locations throughout California.
“We are very excited to be partnering with Irlanda, Rafael and the rest of the Chicas team. The passion and story behind the brand coupled with the unmatched flavor and authencity of the tortilla chip will appeal to consumers across the US. With Benestar’s robust distribution network we can help bring Chicas Chips to new markets,” commented Carl Lee, CEO of Benestar Brands. “This is a continuation of our established strategy to build a diverse salty snack platform.”
Jeff Partridge, Chairman of Benestar Brands and Managing Director at Highlander Partners said, “When we established Benestar, we established an active M&A platform in the salty snack space. We believe Chicas will prove to be a great example of taking an exceptional product led by a committed family and bringing it to the next level by leveraging Benestar distribution and customer relationships. We will continue to target brands with exceptional growth prospects, unique products and strong brand equity.”
About Benestar
Benestar is a leader in the salty snacks space. The company manufactures pork rinds under the Mac’s label, private label and co-manufactures for some of the fastest growing ultra premium brands. Benestar also manufactures tortilla chips under the Chicas brand. Founded in 1947, the company is headquartered in Chicago. Benestar currently operates six production facilities (Chicago, IL; Arlington, TX; Portsmouth, OH; City of Industry, CA; Thomaston, GA; and Saltillo, Mexico). For more information, please visit www.evansfood.com.
About Highlander Partners
Highlander Partners, L.P. is a Dallas-based private investment firm with over $2 billion of assets under management. The firm focuses on making investments in businesses in targeted industries in which the principals of the firm have significant operating and investing experience, including basic manufacturing, food, chemicals, building materials, consumer products, and others. Highlander Partners uses a buy and build investment approach, creating value by helping companies grow organically and through acquisitions. For more information, visit www.highlander-partners.com.