Subsidiary of Post picks up Ronzoni pasta

Private brand producer 8th Avenue Foods & Provisions is acquiring the Ronzoni dry pasta brand from Riviana Foods, the U.S. subsidiary of Madrid-based Ebro Group.

The business has been valued at $95 million. The Ronzoni business generated net sales of $102 million in 2019 and $115.8 million last year. 8th Avenue Foods & Provisions is a subsidiary of Post Holdings. 

Last fall, private brand leader TreeHouse Foods purchased more than 10 dry pasta brands from Riviana Foods. It was noted that the Ronzoni brand, one of the company’s larger brands, wasn’t part of the deal. The brand and its Winchester, Va.-based plant are now going to 8th Avenue Foods & Provisions, bolstering that company’s private brand pasta presence.

TreeHouse and Post Holdings are no strangers, either, as in early 2020 the two ended a cereal deal. The decision followed the Federal Trade Commission's halting of the sale, claiming the $110 million acquisition would have given Post a more than 60% share of the market, eliminating competition between the companies.

For Ebro Group, after the divestment of Ronzoni, the company maintains a fresh pasta business in North America with the brands Garofalo, Bertagni and Olivieri, as well as frozen products through the Ebrofrost brand, rice and other products through the brands Carolina, Mahatma, Minute, Success, Tilda and RiceSelect.