Fresh Factory acquires Phyter Food

CAROL STREAM - The Fresh Factory, a platform for plant-based and clean-label brands, said it has acquired Phyter Food and expanded into the quickly growing refrigerated-bar category.

The Fresh Factory, located in Carol Stream, creates, manufactures for and partners with emerging food and beverage brands. Its focus is plant-based food made with fresh produce and recognizable ingredients, and the company has built a vertically integrated platform to accelerate the growth of new brands in the space.

Phyter Food, with its focus on healthy snacks with fresh ingredients, was founded in 2016 by Gloria Athanis, chef David Choi Jr. and Jeff Adeszko. Phyter Food creates produce-forward, dessert-like refrigerated bars in a West Chicago facility just ten minutes from the Fresh Factory.

With the acquisition, Phyter Food will join a larger company with more resources, and the Fresh Factory will increase its manufacturing capabilities and expand into the bar category, the companies said.

"We are really excited about teaming up with Phyter," said Bill Besenhofer, president and chief operating officer of the Fresh Factory. "Phyter will give us the ability to reach more customers in a food category that we have been looking to get into. This acquisition will help us to continue our expansion into all corners of the plant-based food space."