Mark Smucker, CEO of food and beverage manufacturer J.M. Smucker, discussed his company’s acquisition of Twinkie maker Hostess Brands on Monday with CNBC’s Jim Cramer. Smucker said this move will help the company expand its snack offerings, noting how the two brands complement each other.
Smucker highlighted his company’s Uncrustable snack, a crust-less peanut butter and jelly sandwich, as a product that dovetails well with Hostess’s shelf-stable sweet treats.
“We complement each other so well. I mean, they are doing an excellent job in the convenience channels,” he said. “We’re just now launching an Uncrustable that has a five-day shelf life and can live in that space. And we have great strength in our core grocery channels as well as our expertise in marketing, so there’s a lot of complementary capabilities that are really going to allow both businesses to continue to grow here.”
The company is set to buy Hostess for $5.6 billion, with the deal expected to close by Smucker’s fiscal third quarter, which ends in January, CNBC reported. Smucker has also agreed to take on Hostess’s roughly $900 million in debt.
Smucker said he’s not worried consumers will lose their taste for sweet snacks, even as obesity drugs and emphasis on healthy eating permeate the U.S. zeitgeist.
“We view that people are always going to want to snack. And there are different times of day when somebody might want a protein-based snack like peanut butter with celery, but other times, people want something a little more indulgent,” he said. “Hostess has done such a nice job creating single-serve small portions that allow people to have snacking, sweet snacks, in moderation.”
