Second Nature Brands is quickly becoming a powerhouse, originally bolstered by three brands: Sanders, Kar’s Nuts, and the self-titled Second Nature Snacks brand. Within the last year, it also acquired Brownie Brittle, known for its thin and crunchy texture, and, within the last two months, Sahale Snacks, purveyor of premium nut and fruit snack mixes.

Kar’s Nuts
Before her company became what has now become a Detroit institution, Sue Kar and her husband, John, moved from their home Ohio to Detroit to search for work. John soon found a job in the auto industry, and Sue began working for a candy company; they later brought a house near Navin Field (later known as Tiger Stadium). In 1933, to help make ends meet, Sue began roasting peanuts at home to sell outside the field, where the Detroit Tigers played baseball.

Her hobby soon grew into a noteworthy source of income, and in 1939, Sue and John moved production out of their home and expanded distribution to bars and grocery stores. Sue decided to combine Detroit’s automobile reputation with her name, Kar, to come up with Kar’s new logo, featuring a woman driving a car shaped like a peanut, and new slogan, “Nuts to You from Kar’s.”

Decades later, in 1967, Sue sold Kar’s Nut Products Co. to Bud Nicolay, who moved it to suburban Ferndale, MI. Nick Nicolay, Bud’s son, joined Kar’s about 20 years later; at the time, the business was still being run by his father.

Kar’s moved into its current state-of-the-art manufacturing facility down the street in Madison Heights in 2004, says Jennifer Bauer, chief marketing officer, Second Nature Brands.

“Under successful Nicolay [family] stewardship, the company expanded from producing nuts and seeds for sale in Michigan convenience and grocery stores and vending machines into trail mixes sold from coast to coast, including Kar’s Sweet & Salty Mix—which, by the time the company celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2013, became America’s top-selling branded trail mix. The company also began selling premium trail mixes via national retailers under the Second Nature brand,” she explains.

In 2013, the year it celebrated its 80th anniversary, Kar’s decided to invest more than $2 million into its Madison Heights facility for equipment upgrades. It also installed robotic production packaging lines, which almost doubled production capacity. Today, Kar’s is the largest manufacturer of branded trail mixes in the U.S.

Nicolay sold a majority stake of the business in 2017 to Palladium Equity Partners LLC, and Kar’s Nuts acquired Sanders Chocolates in 2018. Three years later, in 2021, Second Nature Brands debuted, combining Kar’s, Second Nature Snacks, and Sanders.

Sanders Chocolates
Sanders, known for its sea salt caramels, started in 1987 when Fred Sanders Schmidt opened his first candy shop in Detroit.

In 2018, Sanders was owned by Morley Candy Makers, and Kar’s acquisition of the brand brought together Kar’s, Second Nature Brands, and Sanders.

The CEO of Sanders at the time was Brian Jefferson, who purchased Morley Candy Makers in 2007. Prior to that, he and his wife, Karen, had been running a financial services company in Indianapolis, according to the Detroit Free Press.

“In the beginning it was a little scary, but we had a blast. It was a lot of fun,” says Jefferson.

Jefferson was able to secure agreements to sell Sanders products in Costco, Walmart, TJ Maxx, and other retailers. Nowadays, the company’s products can be found nationwide, including at Costco stores.

Sanders is known for its Bumpy Cake, which combines Devil’s food cake with buttercream “bumps before being enrobed in fudge icing. The Original Sanders Bumpy Cake was first released in 1913; consumers can now purchase it in the original Chocolate Fudge flavor, Vanilla Buttercream, and Carrot Cake.

Although its Bumpy Cake is popular throughout Michigan and beyond, Sanders’ top product is its Sea Salt Caramels, made fresh daily in its Clinton Township facility. It also makes dessert toppings.

“We do things a little differently than most confectionery [companies]. We have huge kettles so we batch make the [caramels], a single batch at a time for a long time, which creates a very unique caramel experience,” notes Victor Mehren, CEO, Second Nature Brands. “Sea Salt Caramels are by far our best-selling item.”

The company also recently released a dairy-free version of its caramels, as well as a no-sugar-added option and a Thins line, a thinner version of its signature caramels. The company is always experimenting with new flavors, such as a Peppermint version around holiday time in December.

Products and acquisitions
CapVest, an international private equity investor, acquired Second Nature Brands from Palladium in April 2022.

At the time, Othmane Khelladi, partner, CapVest, said: “Second Nature Brands is a very exciting platform with ambitious plans to grow its presence in the highly attractive snacking and treats market. Through our ownership, we look forward to supporting Vic Mehren and his world-class team in accelerating growth through further investment in product innovation, category leadership, and by scaling the existing platform through transformational acquisitions.”

Before the Sahale Snacks acquisition this year, SNB owned four brands, says Bauer.

“Second Nature Brands now including the following snack food and treat brands: Kar’s Nuts and trail mixes, Second Nature premium trail mixes, Sanders candy, and Brownie Brittle. National top-sellers for the company include Kar’s Sweet & Salty Mix, Sanders chocolate sea salt caramels, and several varieties of Brownie Brittle,” she shares.

Second Nature Brands has been on an acquisition spree lately: Brownie Brittle was acquired at the end of last year, and Sahale Snacks was just acquired in September.

“We look for brands that we feel we can grow, and are a natural fit into our better Snacks and Treats portfolio. This could be companies and brands that play in the categories we participate in today (trail mix, premium chocolate, and/or sweet baked) or brands in other snacks and treating categories that allow us to broaden our portfolio and reach,” explains Victor Mehren, CEO.

Mehren says that Second Nature Brands is still actively integrating Brownie Brittle into the company, and is ensuring that the company is treating the unique and loved brand with continued attention and care.

“That said, we haven’t wasted any time in finding ways to further the Brownie Brittle brand. In 2024, we are on track to launch new innovation, including a new summer seasonal item in partnership with Mars Wrigley, featuring red, white, and blue M&Ms,” he reveals.

Much like with the Brownie Brittle acquisition, Second Nature Brands was excited to welcome Sahale to the SNB family, Mehren adds.

“Sahale has tremendous growth potential, and is a perfect complement to our legacy SNB Trail Mix portfolio. With the acquisition of Sahale, we now can offer our customers a super-premium snack mix brand that is culinary-focused alongside Kar’s, our mainstream trail mix brand and the branded category leader, and Second Nature, our all-natural, premium trail mix brand,” he explains.

Sustainability
Second Nature Brands has pledged to plant one million trees by 2026, focusing its efforts on global agroforestry initiatives and local planting and tree restoration in the greater Detroit area.

To help meet its goal, SNB announced partnerships with One Tree Planted, an environmental nonprofit; ReLeaf Michigan, a statewide nonprofit volunteer tree planting and education organization; and Vanguard Community Development, a broad-based community development entity that advocates and works for Detroit’s Historic North End neighborhood.

“Our vision for the future is to make things better by nourishing people and nature and planting one million trees with partners like One Tree Planted and ReLeaf Michigan helps us toward delivering on that vision,” says Mehren. “With more than 90% of the ingredients in our products coming from trees, it's vital to our business that farms and forests thrive. Whether it’s cacao trees in Africa or shade trees here in Detroit, planting trees helps slow climate change, rejuvenate crops and promote healthier living locally and abroad."

Under its Second Nature Snacks brand, the company has pledged a portion of its revenue across all its products, including its Second Nature Snacks' SmartMix line, to help support tree planting programs in Cote d'Ivoire, where the company sources its cacao.

“Planting trees locally will not only help beautify our city but also contribute to the health and wellbeing of our community, which is vital to Second Nature Brands' success as a local company,” Mehren adds.

Personnel
SNB’s roster of key personnel has changed a bit over the last few years, as well.

Mehren, the company’s current CEO, started at SNB in late 2019. Before joining the company, he spent 17 years at Mars Wrigley, with his most recent role there as U.S. chief operating officer. He also served as general manager of Wrigley, GM of Mars Ice Cream & Substantial Snacks, and GM of Mars Chocolate Canada. Earlier on in his career, he held several senior sales and marketing positions with Wrigley, PowerBar, and others.

In January of this year, Chris Caswell was hired as SNB’s chief financial officer. Prior to joining the company, he was CFO of Welch Foods, Inc., and he had also worked with Clarks Americas. He brought more than 20 years of financial and operational experience to SNB, including direct food and consumer industry experience.

In August, the company tapped Jacobo Capuano as its new chief supply chain officer, reporting directly to Mehren. Capuano has 30 years of experience across manufacturing and supply chain, in several industries, including consumer packaged goods. His last appointment was COO of TruRoots Company, a private equity-backed food and beverage company, where he led the end-to-end supply chain. He’s also worked at Proctor & Gamble, Givaudan Flavors, Clorox, and The Live Kindly Company.

What’s next
The company’s innovation center in Clinton Township, MI continues to be an active part of its strategy.

“Launched in mid-2023, we plan to continue to roll out new varieties of Second Nature Global Fusion snack mixes, which now include Mango Habanero and Mediterranean. Thai Peanut and Szechuan Spice are planned for release by early 2024,” Bauer notes.

Mehren says that what sets SNB apart from other snack companies is its ability to be nimble within the marketplace.

“We have designed our organization to be very responsive to consumer and customer needs. This could mean speed to market on innovation or responding quickly to customer ideas and requests. Even as we scale and grow Second Nature Brands, we are intent on remaining fast and agile,” he comments.

When asked which SNB products are Mehren’s favorite, he says that it’s probably easiest to talk about which ones he prefers during different occasions.

“Kar’s Sweet & Salty is my go-to when mountain biking or hiking. Brownie Brittle Chocolate Chip crumbled on ice cream is incredible. Sahale Maple Pecans is perfect to serve (and eat) when entertaining. And our new Second Nature Citrus Habanero Global Fusions appears to be great all the time,” he muses.

It’s always great to do what you love, and love what you do, and that’s true of Mehren.

“There is nothing I would rather be doing right now. Every single day, I get to work with amazing people in a wonderful culture who are passionate about what they do. We participate in a fun category with great brands that are growing like crazy. I get to spend a lot of my time assessing new brands to bring into the Second Nature Brands family through acquisition. This is the most fun I’ve had in my career,” he adds. SF&WB