SAMBAZON Bought Pitaya Foods and Now Reaches Nearly 70% of U.S. Grocery Stores

Remember when an açaí bowl was a beach vacation thing?

You had one at a smoothie shack on a trip and paid way too much for it. Back home, the closest you got was a banana and a bag of frozen berries. Now the freezer aisle has a whole tropical section.

What actually happened

SAMBAZON, the San Clemente, Calif., açaí company founded in 2000, has acquired Pitaya Foods, the dragon fruit brand founded in 2009. Terms weren’t disclosed. Pitaya’s frozen fruit, smoothie bowls, smoothie packs and smoothie pops are sold at Whole Foods Market, Costco, Kroger, Target, Walmart and Sprouts.

SAMBAZON says the deal expands its retail distribution by 20%, to nearly 70% of U.S. grocery stores, and it expects the combined company to reach 45% annualized revenue growth over the next 12 months. It calls itself the #1 selling açaí brand in the U.S., says the deal makes it the #1 organic frozen fruit brand globally, and says its açaí is the first to earn Regenerative Organic Certified.

Ryan Black stays on as CEO, and Pitaya founder Chuck Casano becomes executive vice president of sales. “Açaí remains the anchor of our business,” Black said.

Our read: the freezer aisle is where the fruit fight is

This is our read. SAMBAZON points to frozen fruit unit sales up 10.7% while overall food and beverage unit sales slipped 0.1% in September. Two brands that already share the same freezer door are stronger together than fighting over it, and shoppers could see more açaí and dragon fruit in more stores.

The reality check

The #1 rankings and the growth target come from SAMBAZON, not an outside audit. Reaching 70% of grocery stores doesn’t mean every store carries every product, so your freezer aisle may still have just one or two. And a bag of frozen fruit is still just fruit.

The close

The beach vacation bowl is now a grocery run. You still have to make it yourself.

Sources

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