The Deal
California Custom Fruits & Flavors (CCFF), a Peak Rock Capital portfolio company, has acquired the Custom Nutritional Ingredients (CNI) division of Skjodt-Barrett Foods, adding a four-decade-old specialist in bar layers, fillings, bindings, toppings, and icings to its custom-ingredient manufacturing platform. Financial terms were not disclosed. The CNI business will continue operating under the Skjodt-Barrett Foods tradename as a division of CCFF.
Why It Matters for Operators
The acquisition extends CCFF's formulation and production reach into the better-for-you segment — a daypart-agnostic growth category that has gained consistent shelf space in QSR and fast-casual formats alike. CCFF CEO Doug Glade noted that the company already supplies several of the top QSR chains in North America and framed the Skjodt-Barrett CNI addition as a direct enabler of new menu-item development for those operators. "The business' dedication to the success of its customers makes it an ideal fit for CCFF, offering customers expanded flexibility, capacity, and capabilities," Glade said. For foodservice operators managing complex LTO pipelines and better-for-you bar-format snack programs, a combined supplier with broader custom-formulation depth could translate to faster speed-to-market and consolidated vendor relationships.
Skjodt-Barrett CNI has spent more than 40 years building co-manufacturing and direct-supply relationships with leading brands and contract manufacturers. Guy Burton, President of Skjodt-Barrett CNI, said the partnership expands the division's ability to serve customers, suppliers, and employees through the next growth phase. The integration preserves the existing CNI leadership team — a signal that CCFF is prioritizing continuity of customer relationships over operational disruption.
Supply Chain Context
The deal reflects a broader consolidation trend in the specialty-ingredient supply layer that feeds commercial foodservice. Operators across QSR, fast casual, and contract-dining channels have faced persistent input-cost volatility and capacity constraints since 2022, pushing procurement teams toward suppliers that can deliver both scale and formulation agility under one roof. Ingredient manufacturers with custom-development capabilities — the ability to engineer a proprietary filling or binding to a chain's nutritional and label specs — command stickier contracts and higher margins than commodity suppliers, making CNI-style businesses attractive M&A targets.
Michael Graham, Managing Director of Peak Rock and a CCFF board member, described the acquisition as "transformative," citing the combined entity's accelerated product-development potential. Peak Rock has signaled that CCFF will continue pursuing acquisitions to add value-added capabilities, suggesting the platform is still in active build mode. For operators evaluating long-term ingredient partnerships, that acquisition appetite could mean further expanded services — or the integration risk that comes with rapid platform growth.
CCFF's existing footprint in custom-formulated specialty ingredients, dating to its 1986 founding, already spans brands, retailers, and co-manufacturers across multiple food channels, as covered in our food & beverage supply chain reporting. The Skjodt-Barrett CNI addition sharpens the company's competitive positioning specifically within foodservice ingredient sourcing, where chain operators increasingly demand turnkey custom-development rather than off-the-shelf inputs.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
