“We’ve been a privately held company since day one — 20 years ago — and we could have kept going on our own,” said Brandon Viar, Fresca’s CEO. “But we had a vision for the company and bigger plans. Cerealto has similar values, categories, growth beliefs and a customer-centric focus. This partner­ship will help accelerate growth in high-demand snacking categories, whether it be the ones both parties play in currently or new ones we can explore.”

By helping both companies scale manu­facturing services and innovation capa­bilities, the trans-Atlantic deal will give Cerealto a foothold in the US and vice versa for Fresca.

Historically, Fresca’s business model has been to scale with its custom­ers, upgrading equipment piecemeal on an as-needed basis. Even though the company entertains almost any idea that comes its way — that’s the entrepreneurial spirit shining through — every potential product is viewed through a lens of feasibility and scalability: What are all the different ways it can be made? How can Fresca grow with it?

“We always go into new projects with the ROI justification in mind,” said Domenic D’Acquisto, business develop­ment representative at Fresca Foods. “We have think-tank sessions to talk about other products we could make with our existing equipment or with minimal investment to expand our customers’ product offerings. We never stop looking for opportunities. We want all lines up and running as much as possible.”

In the pod

Pod manufacturing lends itself well to that goal because it provides the flexi­bility needed to move equipment around to support different types of production, manufacture a wide range of snacks and keep allergens separated.

“That’s the beauty of the system,” said Miguel Ramirez, VP of operations. “We can move equipment in and out of the pods, which allows us to make a variety of products. It’s more efficient, and we can produce faster in terms of speed to market.”

Some pods are customized to meet specific customer criteria or manufac­turing needs. For example, specialty crackers, one of the few private label, off-the-shelf offerings in Fresca’s port­folio, have a dedicated pod because three highly customized wafer ovens are required for production.

Other pods, such as the one that manu­factures granola, are multi-customer, meaning they run products with simi­lar processes for different customers. Currently, several customers share the granola pod; that’s a testament to the product’s increasing popularity, with consumers seeking clean-label, better-for-you foods that are high in fiber and protein, GLP-1-friendly, and organic.