One Thousand & One Voices® (1K1V®), the U.S. private capital fund backed exclusively by leading families, announced that its first portfolio acquisition, Redsun Dried Fruit & Nuts (Pty) Ltd., has concluded an investment in RTE Snacks (Pty) Ltd. (RTE Snacks), a producer of healthy, ready-to-eat trail mix products.
Durban, South Africa-based RTE Snacks produces the popular “On The Go” trail mix range, which is available nationwide through retailers including Clicks, Food Lover’s Market, Spar and Dis-Chem. The acquisition serves to boost the retail reach of Redsun, which processes and exports high quality raisins produced along the shores of the Orange River.
“This investment changes the game for Redsun by giving it extensive local retail reach while at the same time opening additional export opportunities for On The Go, which is ideally positioned to capitalize on the busy, but health-conscious, lifestyle of the Millennial generation,” said Mr. Hendrik Jordaan, the President and CEO of One Thousand & One Voices. “It also forms part of our ongoing strategy to build Redsun into a diversified fruit and nut producer with multiple market access points.”
RTE Snacks was launched in 2009 by the husband-and-wife team of Andrew and Rudene Brown, who together have more than 20 years’ experience in the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) space. The On The Go trail mix range uses unique combinations of dried fruits, nuts and seeds – including exotic and luxurious ingredients such as papaya, edamame, ginger and goji berries – to cater to healthy and active lifestyles.
The investment by 1K1V’s Redsun Raisins in RTE Snacks follows two other acquisitions announced by the private capital fund this year. In November, 1K1V announced an add-on acquisition to its beef protein platform, Beefmaster, through its investment in True Gentlemen’s Jerky, Inc., a healthy snack foods company. In August, 1K1V also announced the acquisition of SanLei™, an export-quality trout producer located on the shores of the Katse Dam in the remote highlands of Lesotho.
