Hormel sells pioneering business that makes specialized food for people with medical conditions

Hormel is selling its medical foods business nearly four decades after pioneering the category with thickeners in pureed foods and drinks.

California-based Lyons Magnus announced last week it acquired Hormel Health Labs for an undisclosed sum to complement its existing line of nutrition shakes and easy-to-swallow meals.

The newly minted Lyons Health Labs will continue to focus on products for patients with difficulty swallowing or at risk of malnutrition, which are sold to hospitals, long-term care facilities and individual caregivers.

Austin, Minn.-based Hormel said in a statement “the business is very solid and can grow with the right partner.” The sale includes a production facility in Pennsylvania.

Earlier this year company leaders said about 10% of Hormel’s portfolio could be sold off as part of a three-year “transform and modernize” initiative meant to boost profits.

The maker of Spam, Planters nuts and Dinty Moore stew recently charted all of its products against how necessary or profitable they are to find the weak spots.

“We’re going after those items that aren’t meeting our strategic objectives and aren’t as profitable as we want,” Hormel’s supply-chain leader, Mark Coffey, said in an interview in March ahead of his retirement this spring. “We’re getting rid of some items that aren’t meeting our strategic objectives or profitability, but we’re adding back items that are new and innovative.”

Hormel Health Labs got its start in 1988 with the Thick & Easy brand and expanded over the years to include Med Pass, Cliffdale Farms and MightyShakes. The company says its “slurry” approach to making pureed food more palatable became “the industry standard.”

“The combination of both companies’ broad portfolio of products, resources, capacity and people immediately establishes Lyons Health Labs as a health and nutrition leader,” Lyons CEO Jim Davis said in a news release. “We are pleased to welcome the Hormel Health Labs team and launch this exciting new venture.”

The division was part of Hormel’s $3.6 billion foodservice business. The sale will not have a material impact on financial results, the company said.