Turkey Creek Joins Forces with Evans Food Group
Evans Food Group acquires leading pork rinds manufacturer
Chicago, IL, March 21, 2019 – Wind Point Partners and portfolio company Evans Food Group (“Evans” or the “Company”), a leading global producer of branded and private label pork rinds, are pleased to announce today that Evans has acquired Turkey Creek Inc. (“Turkey Creek”). Turkey Creek, founded in 1977 and headquartered in Thomaston, Georgia, is a leading national producer of pork rinds.
The pork rind market is the fastest growing and one of the most attractive in all of salty snacks. The combination of Evans and Turkey Creek creates the opportunity to leverage both companies’ complementary product and brand portfolios and distribution networks. Turkey Creek also enables Evans to secure a strong position in the strategic convenience channel and adds a manufacturing platform in the southeast.
Jose Luis Prado, Evans Chairman and CEO, expressed, “I am delighted to welcome the entire Turkey Creek team into the Evans family. Both companies share a passion for delighting our customers with delicious and high-quality products and being great partners to our customers and distributors for many decades. We are also excited to leverage Turkey Creek assets to expand our product portfolio with more product solutions and brands. The combination also increases our capacity to keep up with this fast-growing market.”
The acquisition of Turkey Creek continues Wind Point’s long history of partnering and working with family-held businesses. Joe Lawler, Principal with Wind Point Partners, stated, “We are excited about the combination of Evans and Turkey Creek. Both companies are intensely focused on growing the pork rinds category. From a strategic perspective, the acquisition of Turkey Creek will give Evans a launch pad to grow in the large convenience channel and enhance our manufacturing capacity and capabilities in a new geography.”
Gail and Laddie Fulcher, the founders of Turkey Creek, commented, “The merging of Turkey Creek and Evans, with the support of Wind Point, is a win-win for our customers, our team members and for our town. All three organizations share common values. Leveraging Evans’ national manufacturing footprint will allow us to serve Turkey Creek’s clients across the country in a much better way. The combination will also enable expansion of the Thomaston plant. We are excited to remain involved in supporting a successful transition.”
Wind Point Partners acquired Evans in April of 2016 in partnership with Jose Luis Prado, a more than 30-year veteran of the global snacks industry. Turkey Creek is the second complementary acquisition for Evans. Evans acquired Gaytan Foods in 2017, which strategically enhanced the Company’s West Coast presence. In cooperation with Jose Luis and Evans management, Wind Point will seek to continue growing the Evans platform through a combination of organic growth and innovation, as well as additional acquisitions.
The Wind Point investment team has considerable experience in the consumer products and food space, an area of focus for the firm since its founding in 1984, with Evans representing the firm’s 7th platform investment in the food space over the last decade.
BMO Harris Bank N.A. and Antares Capital led financing for the transaction. White & Case served as legal counsel to Evans.