Cal-Maine Foods is again expanding beyond its core eggs business with the acquisition of the Van’s breakfast brands from Sara Lee Frozen Bakery.

After inking a deal last year for US-based breakfast products maker Echo Lake Foods, Cal-Maine is buying up Van’s Foods, which manufactures gluten-free frozen waffles and pancakes.

“This acquisition is aimed at supporting Cal-Maine Foods’ strategy to diversify its business model, grow in prepared foods business-to-consumer (B2C) retail, and deliver greater value across the supply chain,” the Nasdaq-listed group said in a statement today (12 May).

Cal-Maine added the acquisition will boost its prepared foods annual sales by about 10% and volumes by about 6%, although the Mississippi-based group did not reveal the financial terms of the transaction.

Sherman Miller, the president and CEO of Cal-Maine, said: “We believe this acquisition will further our diversification strategy by expanding our reach in prepared foods consumer-facing retail.

“We see meaningful opportunities to drive growth, unlock efficiencies, and innovate in ways that better serve our customers and consumers.”

Van’s offers options in waffles and pancakes such as protein enhanced and whole-grain variants.

The brand name will be retained by Cal-Maine, which plans to scale the business and provide new innovation.

Van’s was part of the deal struck by private-equity firm Kohlberg & Company, which acquired Sara Lee Frozen Bakery in 2018 from US meat giant Tyson Foods. That transaction also included the Sara Lee, Chef Pierre and Bistro Collection brands.

Peter Laport, who became CEO of Sara Lee Frozen Bakery earlier this year, said: “We made the decision to divest the brand to sharpen our focus on our strong portfolio of core brands where we’re investing for the long term.

“Making disciplined decisions about where we compete is part of how we build a better, more resilient business. We are confident Van’s is going to the right home, with an attractive runway ahead, as Cal-Maine brings complementary capabilities to accelerate its growth, particularly around protein and better-for-you nutrition.”

Away from prepared foods, Cal-Maine snapped up US-based egg peer Creighton Brothers in March. However, that deal also included Crystal Lake, a producer of ready-to-use egg products such as egg patties, omelettes and scrambled eggs.