Peter Blommer on company’s search for an equity partner
CEO says move is more about growth than anything else.
Peter Blommer, ceo of Blommer Chocolate Co.,, said the company’s decision to look for a potential equity partner is more about growth than anything else, and he hopes to announce something in the next month or two.
Blommer made the comments during the Blommer Chocolate 2018 Commodity and Purchasing Seminar Day at the East Bank Club in Chicago last week.
Bloomberg has reported that, “The family owners of Blommer Chocolate Co. are considering a sale.” The report also said, “The business is attracting interest from at least one European strategic acquirer and private equity firms.”
“I just want to put some context around that,” Peter Blommer told the attendees in Chicago. “There’s a lot that we can’t say publicly, which bothers me because the way we like to be as a company, and the way that I like to be personally, is to be very transparent.”
He said when he started at Blommer the company had just under a $100 million in revenue and that has since grown to become a billion dollars in revenue.
“We’re the third largest in the world in terms of ingredient chocolate manufacturing. We are global, we’ve got a plant in China,” he said. “Our job … is to make sure we’re governing this business right."
And that means potentially having a different capital structure.
“Any of the options that we’re looking at will be really good for the company,” he said, adding that it’s still business as usual at Blommer.
“We continue to make and have made significant investments in our company,” he said. “We’ve added 15 million pounds of additional premium chocolate capacity in our East coast facility. About 10 million pounds of white chocolate capacity in our California plant. We've also added a new depositor in our East Coast facility, and that’s 30-35 million pounds of additional depositing capacity. The process that you’ve seen perhaps in the news, that’s sort of noise in the background.”
Blommer Chocolate is a fully integrated chocolate and cocoa manufacturer serving customers around the world. It was founded in 1939 in Chicago, Illinois by Henry Blommer, Sr., along with his brothers Al and Bernard.
By 1948, the business warranted further expansion. Blommer branched out nationally with the addition of Blommer Chocolate Factory of California in Los Angeles.
In 1952, Blommer purchased the common stock of Boldemann Chocolate of San Francisco. Both the southern California and San Francisco operations were consolidated in 1970 when a new facility was built in Union City, California.
The company then expanded again to meet the demands of increasing business when it built a new plant in East Greenville, Pa in 1980 and again in 2001 when it added 85,000 sq.-ft. to its East Greenville facility.
Most recently, in 2006, Blommer purchased an 85,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility in Campbellford, Ontario. The company’s four factories are located strategically across North America.
Currently, the business is still family run and has grown to become the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America.
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