nellson news

June 2018

Food Manufacturing: Setting the Bar

Nellson LLC Opens a new 3000,000-square-foot state-of-the-art nutrition bar manufacturing facility in Ontario, California.

Read the full article published in Food Manufacturing here.

April 2018

Vote for Nellson as Food Processing's 2018 R&D Team of the Year

For over fifty years, NELLSON has worked toward becoming the market leader in nutritional bar and functional powder product outsourcing, providing solutions that build successful brands and inspire healthier living in the sports performance, active nutrition, wellness, weight management and medical nutrition market segments. Nellson operates five expansive state-of-the-art production facilities in the U.S. and Canada, each housing a team of experts in R&D, quality, regulatory support, production and packaging. To accelerate the development cycle, Nellson created customer collaboration centers and is positioned to provide a mobile R&D service for ultimate speed-to-market. Over the past year (FY2017) Nellson’s R&D team of 40 scientists, technicians and support have worked collaboratively with brand partners launching over 750 new and innovative products to market. Nellson, Moving Nutrition Forward.

Cast your vote for Nellson as Food Processing's 2018 R&D Team of the Year!
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March 2018

Nellson Nutraceutical opens world-class nutrition bar manufacturing facility in Ontario, California

Anaheim, CA – Nellson Nutraceutical, LLC (Nellson), a leading North American formulator and manufacturer of branded and private label nutritional bar and functional powder products, announced the opening of its new nutrition bar manufacturing plant in Ontario, California. The state-of-the-art 300,000 sq. ft. facility offers the latest bar processing technology and capabilities available, and strengthens Nellson’s market-leading position in nutritional bar co-manufacturing.

“Today we are thrilled to officially open our new Ontario, California facility,” said Jamie Better, Chief Executive Officer of Nellson. “This project began in 2016 when we decided it was better to build from scratch rather than retrofitting our aging facility in Irwindale, California. Our goal was to construct a world-class nutrition bar facility that would provide our brand customers unmatched R&D expertise and the latest process and manufacturing innovations for nutrition bars as well as a first-rate working environment for our employees. This is the first new facility of its kind in North America in at least the last 16 years, and is an important strategic investment for Nellson, as we gear up to meet customers’ rapidly evolving demands in a dynamic nutrition market across multiple segments, including sports performance, wellness, weight management, functional and medical nutrition.”

“The Nellson team is extremely excited to share new capabilities and technologies with our brand partners as we work together to create some of the industry’s latest on-trend nutrition bar formats,” said Jean Filion, Nellson’s Chief Operating Officer and President Nellson Canada. “Our new R&D Collaboration Center enhances our ability to work with brand partners on the next generation of bars, providing custom formulation, benchtop replication, and consumer samples and testing.”

“In selecting the Ontario site, it was critically important to us that the new facility be within a short drive from our existing location, as we wanted to retain our experienced workforce and all their bar-making expertise,” said Better. “We’re delighted that over 80% of our Irwindale employees agreed to transfer to Ontario. This facility sets a new standard in nutrition bar manufacturing. Our investment of about $70 million in the Ontario facility, along with our recent acquisition of Genysis Brand Solutions are the latest steps in Nellson’s aggressive transformation under the ownership of Kohlberg & Company, and reflect our determination to be the co-manufacturing partner of choice for the leading brands in the nutritional bar and functional powder marketplace.”

Nellson’s new Ontario facility at a glance:

• The 300,000 sq. ft. facility offers a streamlined layout with segregated lines—providing brand confidentiality, allergen control, food safety, efficient sanitation, as well as flexible production capabilities
• In-line process capabilities enabling new formats, such as slabbed and extruded bites, triple layer bars and unique custom shapes
• In-line dual mixing capabilities to optimally blend a range of ingredients, from very fragile cereal or crisp-based layers to very dense high protein doughs
• New high-speed packaging capabilities to support on-trend consumer demands
  Multiple pack-outs on a single line for optimal efficiency and increased flexibility
• State-of-the-art R&D Collaboration Center supports customer formulation, commercial scale-up and consumer testing
• Smart technology and energy efficient systems to conserve energy, water and other resources, with programs to maximize recycling and reduce waste
• Expansion space to support future growth

Visit www.nellsonllc.com for more information.

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About Nellson
Nellson, the leading full-service nutritional bar and powder provider in North America, is based in Anaheim, California with production locations in California, Utah, and Quebec. Founded in 1962, Nellson has over 50 years of diversified expertise in nutrition platforms for bars and powders, serving the sports nutrition, wellness, weight management, functional, and medical nutrition market segments. Nellson offers formulation expertise, quality assurance, regulatory support, flexible production, and sales and marketing support.

About Kohlberg & Company
Kohlberg & Company is a leading private equity firm specializing in middle market investing. Since its inception in 1987, Kohlberg has organized eight private equity funds, through which it has raised over $7.5 billion of committed equity capital. Over its 30-year history, Kohlberg has completed 72 platform investments and well over 168 add-on acquisitions, with an aggregate transaction value of over $15 billion. For more information, visit www.kohlberg.com.

December 2017

Nellson, LLC to acquire Genysis Brand Solutions

Nellson Nutraceutical, LLC (Nellson), a leading North American formulator and manufacturer of branded and private-label nutritional bar and functional powder products, today announced that it has acquired Genysis Brand Solutions Inc. (Genysis). Genysis is a Salt Lake City-based manufacturer of functional powders. Genysis affiliates Dyad Labs (formerly Genysis Labs) and Sensapure Flavors have been spun out as independent entities and are not included in the transaction.

The business combination strengthens Nellson’s powder production capabilities, expands its product lines and channels, and diversifies its customer mix. “The combination with Genysis, together with the recent opening of our state-of-the-art bar-making facility in Ontario, California further strengthens Nellson’s position as a strategic partner of choice within the fast-growing nutritional bar and functional powders sectors” said Jamie Better, Chief Executive Officer of Nellson. “This acquisition replicates in powders what we achieved in bars three years ago through our acquisition of Multibar, as it combines two respected functional powder manufacturers to create the clear category leader with remarkable capabilities in new product development and best-in-class manufacturing.”

Genysis will operate as a subsidiary of Nellson. Adam Schwinghammer, President of Genysis, who will stay on as a key member of the executive management team, said, “We are excited about merging with Nellson and capitalizing on the respective strengths of the two companies in order to benefit our current and prospective customers.”

The combined company will have five manufacturing and R&D facilities, offering greater capabilities to customers both in the U.S. and Canada, as well as internationally.

Nellson is a portfolio company of Kohlberg & Company, L.L.C (Kohlberg), a leading private equity firm headquartered in New York.

Seth H. Hollander, Partner at Kohlberg, commented, "Since our acquisition of Nellson in 2013, we have been focused on identifying acquisitions as a means to grow and expand our capabilities, product offering and customer base. Genysis represents a key step toward that end." Hollander added, "Nellson and Genysis are highly complementary businesses, and we are pleased to capitalize on this unique opportunity to create a larger, more diversified company capable of better serving our combined customer bases."

Antares Holdings provided Nellson with fully committed credit facilities sufficient to close the transaction. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acted as legal counsel to Nellson. Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisor to Genysis.

September 2017

Nellson Introduces Customer-Driven Blog: 'Nellson in Motion' – Resource Offers Market Insight and Formulation Solutions for Successful Nutrition Bars and Functional Powders

Nellson LLC, the leading full-service nutrition bar and powder provider in North America, recently introduced ‘Nellson in Motion’. The blog, written by Nellson’s team of experts, offers insight and information on the nutritional bar and functional powder markets. Content is designed to highlight current consumer trends, methods to overcome formulation challenges, and tips for successful product launches.

Bart Child, Nellson’s Sr. VP Commercial Development, said, “We developed the ‘Nellson in Motion’ blog as a tool to communicate the latest news and market insight around nutritional bars and functional powders. At Nellson, we have an incredible wealth of in-house R&D expertise and market information, and we want to share that knowledge with our customers. We hope they will find our blogs to be insightful, as we dive into current consumer trends, examine formulation challenges, and share tips for successful bar and powder development."

The Nellson team of experts post blogs that cover news and information on topics and trends such as:

• Making Clean Label Simple–This post examines the challenges of creating clean label products, current consumer perceptions, as well as the future of the category.

• Customized Vitamin and Mineral Pre-blend Powders–Nellson’s R&D team discusses current challenges in the development of nutraceutical powders, as consumers seek products that meet specific nutritional criteria. The post also highlights Nellson’s custom pre-blend solutions that are available to meet specific label claims, with products that offer ideal shelf life and more.

• Quality Matters–Nellson weighs in on which certifications and standards are most important in today’s nutrition marketplace.

Please visit the Nellson in Motion blog and view posts from Nellson's team of experts.