11 May Custom Made Meals Partners with Stellex in Expansion-Focused Recapitalization
Custom Made Meals (CMM), the leading U.S. provider of fresh, handmade, oven-ready entrees, appetizers and sides for grocery retailers, announces it has been acquired by Stellex Capital Management, a middle-market private investment firm with extensive food industry experience.
The recapitalization is designed to support CMM’s accelerated growth and continued expansion in the rapidly evolving market sector. With scaled, centralized production capabilities, fresh supply chain expertise, flexible logistics and excellent execution, CMM is uniquely positioned as the number one leading U.S. operator capable of serving more than 15,000 retail locations nationwide with unrivaled product SKU breadth, depth and complexity.
“At Stellex, we look for opportunities to invest in businesses that are undergoing or facilitating transformation,” said Trey Lee, Principal at Stellex. “CMM is providing its retail customers products that meet growing consumer demand for convenient yet high-quality, fresh foods. At the same time, CMM is also providing its customers product development and innovation along with a service, which reduces the complexities of procurement, labor management, food safety, shelf life, and waste. We have witnessed the power of these trends within other food products, and CMM has the team, the scale and the new financial support of Stellex to continue paving the road in the fresh, ready-to-cook category.”
CMM’s partnership with Stellex will support new investment in automation and expanded production capacity and provide management expertise during the next phases of CMM’s growth, under the leadership of CMM’s existing award-winning executive team, said CMM President and CEO Dale Easdon.
“Our financial partnership with Stellex will provide the resources for CMM to continue its rapid expansion, both through geographic expansion and acquisition opportunities,” Easdon said. “This new investment in the company’s growth will give us the increased capacity, improved infrastructure and geographic flexibility to better serve our customers in meeting the demands of this fast-growing market.”
Easdon credits CMM’s commitment to product excellence, customer service and a family-like corporate culture for the success of the company and its leadership team, which have won several awards for operational excellence. The company was named a Top Colorado Workplace by The Denver Post for the past three years. The Denver Post also honored Easdon as a Top CEO of a mid-sized company in 2020. CMM CFO and Chief Administrative Officer Sean Saunders was recently named a 2021 Titan 100, a program recognizing top C-level executives in Colorado.