Arbor Investments (“Arbor”), a specialized private equity firm that focuses exclusively on investing in food, beverage and related industries announced today the recapitalization of food ingredient supplier Dr. G’s Creations ("Dr. G’s" or the "Company"). The transaction marks the third platform investment for Arbor Fund V. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in Athens, Georgia in 2008 by renowned food science engineer Bahman Ghavimi, Ph.D., Dr. G’s Creations has established itself as the go to solution provider for QSR, casual restaurants and food processors. Its customers include the largest national chains and best-known brands in North America. The Company’s broad range of offerings consist of functional ingredients, flavors, and batter & breading systems that help customers achieve their desired product texture, appearance, and taste. As CEO, Ghavimi has built the business with unique products, innovative technology, clean label ingredients and personalized customer service.
“As a life-long inventor, I’ve spent my career providing solutions to the foodservice and food manufacturing sector and am extremely proud of the Company we’ve built over the last 13 years” said Ghavimi. “At Dr. G’s, we pride ourselves on our ability to stay ahead of growing demand and changing customer needs. Bringing on Arbor as a partner will allow us to stay at the forefront of our industry and provide our superior products and service to even more customers. Arbor shares our vision for growth, has a proven playbook for success, and brings an army of resources and expertise that will help us get there quickly. We can’t wait to get started working together.”
“We were fortunate to have met Bahman several years ago,” stated Arbor Partner Alan Weed. “As prolific investors in food, we quickly admired the highly technical and in-demand applications that Dr. G’s develops for chicken offerings at the who’s who of QSR chains and industrial customers. Consumers can taste the difference when an item contains Dr. G’s products and the sales growth that customers experience when they convert to Dr. G’s is remarkable. We look forward to adding additional infrastructure, systems and people to support the oversized demand and interest from customers.”
Operating Partner Peter Bradley will oversee the new investment for Arbor. Bradley brings more than three decades of executive leadership experience in the food and beverage, ingredient, and specialty chemical industries.
“Dr. G’s was an early leader in proprietary clean label ingredient solutions for proteins and has smartly recognized and capitalized on the chicken sandwich consumer trend,” said Bradley. “By combining culinary expertise and proprietary application science, Dr. G’s technologies and capabilities are second to none – delivering the processing efficiency, better eating qualities, and superior taste consumers crave.”
Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as Arbor’s legal counsel in connection with the transaction and Eversheds Sutherland served as legal counsel for Dr. G’s.