PepsiCo to acquire Chinese snack brand Be & Cheery for $705m

PepsiCo acquisition of Be & Cheery : PepsiCo has agreed to acquire Chinese online snack company Hangzhou Haomusi Food (trading as Be & Cheery) from jujube maker Haoxiangni Health Food for $705 million as per the latest food acquisition news.

Operating in China for almost 40 years, PepsiCo said that the acquisition is a major step in its goal to become one of the top consumer-centric food and beverage companies in the country.

Be & Cheery, which is based in Hangzhou, offers products across nuts, dried fruits, baked goods, meat snacks, and confectionery. The Chinese snack brand mainly sells online via the major e-commerce platforms in China.

According to Pepsico, the strong data-driven innovation capability and flexible manufacturing and sourcing of Be & Cheery will help it to adjust its product portfolio quickly to respond to varying consumer trends.

PepsiCo acquisition of Be & Cheery. Photo courtesy of Peter Bond from Philadelphia, USA/Wikipedia.org.

Commenting on PepsiCo acquisition of Be & Cheery, Ram Krishnan – CEO of PepsiCo Greater China, said: “Be & Cheery is highly complementary to our existing China business with its broad product portfolio, asset light model, and focus on e-commerce.

“As we look to accelerate growth in key markets around the world and further grow ‘in China, for China, with China’, Be & Cheery adds direct-to-consumer capability, positioning us to capitalize on continued growth in e-commerce, and a local brand that is able to stretch across a broad portfolio of products, through both online and offline channels. We also expect to leverage Be & Cheery’s innovation and consumer insights capabilities to drive innovation in other key PepsiCo growth markets.”

Established in 2003, Be & Cheery had revenues of around RMB 5 billion ($710 million) in 2019.

Haoqun Qiu – Chairman of Be & Cheery, commenting on PepsiCo acquisition of Be & Cheery, said: “Be & Cheery was founded to bring more people convenient and nutritious snacks. We believe PepsiCo’s strong branding and route-to-market capabilities as well as global supply chain network will help us deliver and expand on that mission.

“PepsiCo and Be & Cheery are jointly confident in the prospects for China’s snacks industry and share a commitment to invest in consumer-led and digitalized capabilities. We are excited to join forces with them as we look to expand our reach and grow Be & Cheery to the next level.”

The closing of PepsiCo acquisition of Be & Cheery is subject to Haoxiangni Health Food’s shareholder vote, receipt of certain regulatory approvals, and meeting of other customary conditions.