Perdue Farms will acquire Natural Food Holdings, the parent company of natural meat company, and Chipotle pork supplier, Niman Ranch from private equity firm, LNK Partners for an undisclosed amount.

 

The deal, which is expected to close ‘soon’, is the latest in a flurry of activity by large food companies as they maneuver to gain position in the rapidly growing U.S. natural food market.

 

Perdue Farms already produces antibiotic free chicken, and acquired Coleman Natural Foods in 2011. In May of this year, Hormel Food Corp. announced its was buying the natural and organic meat processor, Applegate Farms, for $775 million, and last year General Mills acquired organic food company, Annies, Inc. for $820 million.

 

Begun in the 1970s in California, Niman Ranch has grown to include more than 700 family farmers and ranchers across the U.S., and the brand has expanded to include pork, beef, lamb, cage-free eggs, and smoked and cured meats. The company produces meat using no antibiotics, and from animals raised according to high welfare standards, and states that it plans to continue to produce meat in the same manner after the acquisition as it had before.

 

The deal "will allow us to produce more pork of our quality," said Jeff Tripician, chief executive officer for Niman Ranch. "Whether that goes to Chipotle or Whole Foods or Sprouts or Vitamin Cottage or the great restaurants, that's kind of an internal issue of what's the right way to grow."

 

Through the deal, Perdue also acquired the Prairie Grove brand and the SiouxPreme Packing Plants in Sioux City and Sioux Center, Iowa.