Stonewall Kitchen gets new CEO, investor
Stonewall Kitchen, a nationally recognized manufacturing, retail and wholesale distribution company based in York, announced today that Centre Partners, a private equity firm with offices in New York City and Los Angeles, now has an ownership stake in the company.
Janine Somers, director of marketing for Stonewall Kitchen, declined giving any further details about Centre Partners’ ownership stake, other than to say that both the York company’s founders and its new investors expect the partnership to help Stonewall Kitchen’s business continue to grow.
“We’ve been working diligently to grow our company,” she said in a telephone interview with Mainebiz this morning. “We now have the opportunity to partner with folks who can really help us take it to the next level.”
Founded in 1991 by Jonathan King and Jim Stott, Stonewall Kitchen has steadily grown to become a well-known brand in specialty jams, sauces, crackers and pancake mixes. It now has 11 stores and employs more than 300 people full time and gains another 150 seasonal employees during the holiday shopping season, Somers said.
Centre Partners describes itself on the company website as a “leading middle market private equity firm” that has invested more than $2 billion in over 70 transactions since its start in 1986.
John Stiker, an operating partner at Centre who grew up in Maine, will join Stonewall Kitchen as its new CEO. Somers said he has had key leadership positions in other food companies, including Bumble Bee Seafoods and Distant Lands Coffee. “Stonewall Kitchen is a special brand committed to innovation, quality products and most importantly, its employees and community,” he said in a press release announcing the partnership. “I am excited to join the team as this is a brand that I personally believe in and enjoy, and whose culture and business practices share our partnership philosophy and values.
Stonewall Kitchen’s founding partner Jonathan King will remain on board as the chief creative officer, Natalie King will remain in her position as the executive vice president and Lori King has been promoted to president. Jim Stott, who has been semi-retired for the last few years, will now enjoy a full retirement, Somers said.
“For almost 25 years, my partner, Jim Stott, and I have worked hard to build an authentic brand, focused on creating the highest quality and most innovative specialty foods possible,” Jonathan King said in the press release announcing the partnership. “We are pleased to partner with Centre as they have earned a strong reputation for being a great partner for management teams looking to grow their business while preserving the core values, brand and quality of their products.”
Somers said employees were told last week about the partnership and have been aware that the company had been looking for more than a year to find an investment firm that could help it continue to grow. Sawaya Segalas & Co. LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Stonewall Kitchen in creating the partnership with Centre Partners.
A 2011 profile of Stonewall’s founders in the Portland Press Herald reported that at that time the company’s revenue topped $50 million annually, with 17% coming from jam sales and 40% from retail sales, with the rest coming from its wholesale business. King estimated the company’s value at that time as being at least $70 million, the newspaper reported, and projected that it would be worth between $85 million and $100 million by this year based on the anticipated pace of retail expansion.
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