Enjoy Life Foods Purchased by Mondelez

Enjoy Life Foods, a private U.S. snacking company and the market-leading brand in the fast-growing "free from" segment, was acquired by Mondelez International.

"As we focus on continuing to drive growth in snacking, the acquisition of Enjoy Life Foods is a great strategic fit for us," said Mark Clouse, chief growth officer at Mondelez International. "The Enjoy Life brand expands our portfolio into faster growing, on-trend, 'better-for-you' areas and provides an excellent platform to make these delicious offerings available to consumers with 'free-from' needs or simply looking for healthy-lifestyle options, both in the United States and beyond."

Enjoy Life offers more than 40 products, including cookies, chocolate, snack bars and savory snacks that are allergy-friendly and gluten-free. Enjoy Life's products are free from the eight most common allergens – wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish and shellfish – which together account for about 90 percent of all food allergies.

The $12 billion "free-from" market in the United States is large and growing at strong double-digit rates, driven by an increasing incidence of food allergies and food intolerances as well as consumers adopting "free from" as a healthy-lifestyle option.

"Enjoy Life offers an excellent brand promise that's trusted by their loyal and engaged consumers," Clouse said. "We're excited about the extraordinary potential of this business and the entrepreneurial team leading it. We have a great opportunity to share our expertise, learn from their experience and work to accelerate Enjoy Life's growth in this exciting consumer space."

" As we combine our great brand, market leadership and passion for our consumers with the global resources, scale and marketing expertise of Mondelez International, I'm confident this relationship will enable us to reach even greater heights," said Scott Mandell, CEO and founder of Enjoy Life Foods.

Mandell and other members of the Enjoy Life leadership team will continue to lead the company. Mondelez International will operate Enjoy Life Foods as a separate, wholly owned subsidiary and will provide back-office support and access to its global resources.

The transaction was a simultaneous sign-and-close deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Mondelez International is a global snacking company, with 2014 revenue of $34 billion. Mondelez International is a world leader in biscuits, chocolate, gum, candy, coffee and powdered beverages, with billion-dollar brands such as Oreo, LU and Nabisco biscuits; Cadbury, Cadbury Dairy Milk and Milka chocolate; Trident gum; Jacobs coffee and Tang powdered beverages.