PLANO, Texas — Meat-snack producer Stryve Foods LLC has taken significant steps recently to beef up its standing in the U.S. snack industry.
In December, the snack maker, maker of Stryve Beef Biltong, acquired Kalahari Snacks, another producer of biltong made in the centuries-old South African tradition of naturally air-dried meat with simple ingredients and no sugar.
A month later, Stryve Foods LLC entered into an agreemen to become part of the portfolio of New York-based Andina Acquisition Corp. III, a publicly traded special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC). When the deal closes, likely in second-quarter 2021, the business combination will result in renaming the company Stryve Foods Inc., which will be listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker SNAX.
And on March 1, Stryve Foods appointed former 7-Eleven Inc. executive Scott McCombs as chief financial officer.
McCombs spent approximately 16 years at 7-Eleven as vice president of finance. In this position, he modernized cost of goods management and space planning across the chain’s U.S. operations. Most recently, he served as senior vice president, finance and operations for CBRE Commercial Real Estate.
“I am thrilled to be back in the CPG and retail space, and as a runner and user of protein snacks, I am so pleased to become a part of Stryve’s leadership team," McCombs said. "This is a transformative time for me to join the company as it works to complete the business combination agreement with Andina."
Stryve Co-CEO and Co-Founder Joe Oblas said the business combination will help the company achieve its goal of building a health-driven snack platform.
“Our intention is to accelerate Stryve’s growth trajectory by capitalizing on the strengths of our existing business, while staying true to our mission of helping Americans snack better and live happier, more fulfilling lives by disrupting traditional snacking categories,” he said. “We are excited to be partnering with Andina as we transition into the public markets and are committed to enhancing value for all of our stakeholders.”
Meanwhile, Stryve is working to incorporate the Kalahari Snacks portfolio into its systems.
"We’re thrilled to have the Kalahari team join the Stryve family of brands,” said Alex Hawkins, COO of Stryve Foods. “As we’ve built our air-dried meat vertical, the opportunity to acquire one of the fastest growing brands in the biltong space was too important to pass up. We’ve each disrupted the meat-snack category on our own and now together, the sky’s the limit.”
Kalahari is now benefiting from Stryve Foods’ existing infrastructure, bringing direct access to research and development, a simplified supply chain, faster speed to market and synergies in functions across the companies, Stryve Foods said.
Plano, Texas-based Stryve Foods is an emerging healthy snacking platform with a mission to help Americans snack better and live better lives, the company said. It is focused on manufacturing and marketing highly differentiated healthy snacks that disrupt traditional snacking categories. Stryve Beef Biltong comes in a variety of flavors, including Original, Cajun, Hickory, Mesquite BBQ, Teriyaki, Zesty Garlic, Hatch Green Chile and Spicy Peri. Kalahari Biltong is available in four flavors: Original, Spicy Peri Peri, Garlic and Chili Lime.
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