SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 4, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diamond Foods, Inc. (Nasdaq:DMND) ("Diamond") today announced that it has acquired a 51% stake of Yellow Chips, a manufacturer of high quality vegetable and organic potato chips based in the Netherlands.
Yellow Chips markets its products under private labels and as its own premium brand, Go Pure®, in Europe. Yellow Chips currently produces Kettle Brand® Vegetable Chips for Diamond. Following the acquisition, Yellow Chips' existing management team will continue to operate the company as an independent subsidiary.
Brian Driscoll, Diamond's President and Chief Executive Officer said, "We are excited to acquire an interest in Yellow Chips, which enables us to better compete in the on-trend, high growth vegetable chip category in the UK and Europe. We are pleased to welcome the Yellow Chip team, which has done an outstanding job creating a high quality product for us."
"We look forward to working closely with the Yellow Chips team to expand European sales and increase distribution in the UK," said Dominic Lowe, Managing Director of Kettle Chips UK.
Vincent van Gorkom, one of the founders of Yellow Chips and a member of its management team commented, "We've been working closely with Diamond over the past several months, and we're excited to join the team. We will benefit from Diamond's scale, marketing expertise, and distribution network, and look forward to expanding awareness of our products and increasing market penetration in the UK and Europe."
Diamond is financing the acquisition through cash on-hand.
GoPure is a registered trademark in the European Union.
About Diamond Foods
Diamond Foods is an innovative packaged food company focused on building and energizing brands including Kettle Brand® chips, Emerald® snack nuts, Pop Secret® popcorn, and Diamond of California® nuts. Diamond's products are distributed in a wide range of stores where snacks and culinary nuts are sold. For more information, visit the Company's corporate web site: http://www.diamondfoods.com.
About Yellow Chips
Yellow Chips is a manufacturer of high quality vegetable and organic potato chips based in the Netherlands. Yellow Chips markets its products under private labels and as its own premium brand, Go Pure®, a leader in the European organic chip market, to retailers, organic specialty shops and wholesalers. Yellow Chips is also distinctive for its eager and open approach to the business, and its dedicated partnerships with local agrarians. For more information, visit the Company's corporate web site: http://www.yellowchips.nl/en/index.php.
Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements that are based on our current expectations only as of the date of this press release. These forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the potential results discussed in the forward-looking statements. In particular, our predictions about the benefits of the acquisition to Diamond and Yellow Chips and the future operation of Yellow Chips could be affected by a variety of factors including: unexpected consequences of the change in control; increasing competition; competitive dynamics in the consumer foods industry and the markets for our and Yellow Chip products, including new product introductions, advertising activities, pricing actions, and promotional activities of competitors; consumer acceptance of new products and product improvements; changes in the legal and regulatory environment, including labeling and advertising regulations and litigation; product quality and safety issues, including recalls and product liability; changes in consumer preferences and demand for our and Yellow Chip products; changes in consumer behavior, trends and preferences; consolidation in the retail environment; and political and economic conditions in the UK and other European countries. Many of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in greater detail in the "Risk Factors" sections of the periodic reports that we file with the SEC. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.