Demeter Group

Ventana Vineyards is a recognized producer of premium Chardonnay in Monterey County as well as a grower for respected Central Coast and North Coast brands. In early 2006, the company retained Demeter Group to evaluate its strategic alternatives. Demeter Group's analysis concluded that if the brand was to realize its true potential, the company's shareholders should explore a sale and that the likely acquirer should have expertise in both viticulture and distribution.

Founded by one of the formulators of PowerBar, GU Sports is a leader in the endurance sports nutrition industry. The company pioneered the energy gels market, of which it currently has a 50% share; and its recent year-over-year growth rate has exceeded 50%. GU Sports initially hired Demeter Group to perform a valuation and strategic analysis of the company. Demeter Group was subsequently retained to secure capital to facilitate the transfer of majority ownership from the company's founder to its CEO and to fund a new product line called Roctane.

Demeter Group advised National Pretzel Holdings, Inc., the nation's largest producer of private-label pretzels, on its acquisition of Shultz Foods, its largest private-label competitor. National Pretzel Holdings comprises a family of leading regional pretzel businesses, including California Pretzel Co., the largest co-packer and contract manufacturing pretzel supplier on the west coast, and Anderson Bakery Co., the nation's oldest bakery.

Yes To Carrots is an innovative, high-growth personal care company that markets hair, face and body products that combine antioxidant-rich beta-carotene with nourishing and rejuvenating mud and minerals from the Dead Sea. Founded in Israel in 2005, Yes To Carrots introduced its products in the U.S. in April 2007 through an exclusive national sales agreement with Walgreens.

Since its founding in 1981, Saintsbury has been recognized as a pioneer in developing the reputation of Napa Valley's Carneros appellation for world-class Pinot Noir. In April 2007, Saintsbury retained Demeter Group to evaluate an opportunity to develop a new estate vineyard.

Don Sebastiani & Sons is an international wine negociant focused on incubating and marketing innovative, premium brands, including the popular Smoking Loon. In just seven years, the company has grown to become the 13th largest U.S. wine company with a sales volume of over two million cases.

Rosenblum Cellars was the largest and fastest-growing privately held brand in the super-premium and luxury Zinfandel category and enjoyed a consumer-direct business that was significant for a company of its size. In September 2007, Demeter Group was retained to sell the company.

Pahlmeyer is one of Napa Valley's iconic brands and has a distinguished 20-year history of producing luxury-priced wines with power and personality. With one of the industry's most impressive track records of positive wine reviews and ratings, Pahlmeyer benefits from remarkably strong direct sales to a mailing list of loyal customers. It also consistently achieves placement on the wine lists of top restaurants around the world.

Demeter Group advised Nestlé USA, a unit of Nestlé SA, the world's largest food company, on its sale of the Albers corn meal and grits brand. Founded more than 100 years ago, Albers is the dominant brand in its category in the western United States with a 64% share of the cornmeal and 59% share of the grits markets. Utilizing its deep understanding of the acquisition rationale of middle market food companies, Demeter Group identified Continental Mills, which owns several leading make-at-home foods brands including Krusteaz, as a logical buyer.

Rx for Brown Skin is the first prestige skincare line that addresses the unique needs of women of Latin, Asian, Indian, African, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Native American descent. In 2007, the company required capital to fund an exclusive launch at Sephora and build a world-class management team. Demeter Group developed an international distribution strategy that enabled the company to secure equity capital in August 2007 from Simon Equity Partners, a family office with deep expertise in building consumer brands and global ties to upscale malls.

Galaxy Desserts is the leading domestic producer of frozen, all natural, individual-portion gourmet dessert and pastries for retail, foodservice and catalog customers, including Safeway, Target, Trader Joe's and Williams-Sonoma. The company's products combine handcrafted, artisan taste with a homemade appearance, and are designed to be efficiently produced at high volumes. In August 2007, Demeter Group advised the company on the placement of a non-control equity investment from an institutional investor focused on consumer companies.

Flowers Vineyard & Winery, a Sonoma Coast-based luxury brand specializing in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, has demonstrated deep resonance in the on-premise channel, ranking as the 13th most requested brand on U.S. restaurant wine lists in 2007. In June 2008, Flowers retained Demeter Group to evaluate its alternatives and to initiate and manage a sale process. Demeter Group positioned Flowers to potential acquirers as a unique brand with significant untapped value realizable either through accelerated volume growth or though growth in pricing and margins. Demeter Group created detailed financial projection scenarios to clearly articulate these alternative strategies and support the company's valuation.

WineBid.com was founded in 1996 to enable wine enthusiasts and collectors to acquire wines online 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It offers a convenient, auction format that provides access to rare and collectible wines that are unavailable even at the finest stores. The company has grown to become the largest Internet-based wine auction website, with more than 40,000 registered users, a staff of experienced wine professionals and a temperature-controlled warehouse in Napa, California.

Zoot Sports is a leading designer, developer, and marketer of ultra-high performance apparel, footwear, wetsuits, and accessories for multisport athletes. Started in 1983 in Kona, Hawaii, the home of the Ironman World Championships, Zoot invented the triathlon racesuit and forever changed the sport. The company is led by a world-class management team and has consistently focused on developing innovative product solutions. It currently enjoys an estimated 40% share of the U.S. triathlon apparel market, which is projected to grow at 15% to 20% per annum.

With the mantra “Beauty with an Edge,” Urban Decay (“UD”) is a leading premium color cosmetics brand known for its alternative spin on beauty with imaginative, high-quality products and unique artistic style, as well as innovative and bold packaging and colors. The brand is both a strong financial performer with double digit growth rates and a key color cosmetics brand at Sephora and Ulta, which together account for over 50% of UD’s revenue. As a result of an auction process, Castanea Partners, a Boston, MA-based private equity fund founded by the former co-CEOs of The Neiman Marcus Group, received exclusivity on UD and retained Demeter Group as its strategic and financial advisor on the transaction.

Following Urban Decay’s (“UD”) May 2009 acquisition by Castanea Partners, Demeter Group was retained by UD to evaluate and develop a strategic roadmap for successful entry and distribution through the Home Shopping channel, or direct response TV (“DRTV”). As a prestige beauty brand distributed primarily through specialty retailers Sephora and Ulta, meaningful sales growth through the DRTV channel would not only elevate the brand’s equity and increase consumer awareness, but also further enhance its multi-distribution channel model, thus providing an additional growth leg for UD and its shareholders.

Miller Family Holdings is the family office of Bob Miller, former chairman and CEO of Rite Aid and former CEO of Fred Meyer Corporation. In March 2004, Demeter Group identified Bales Thriftway Marketplace, a leading upscale independent supermarket chain in Portland, OR, as an investment opportunity for Miller Family Holdings.

Associated Grocers, Inc. of Seattle, WA is one of the nation’s largest wholesale grocery cooperatives as well as largest private companies in Washington State with revenues in excess of $1 billion. In December 2004, Associated Grocers’ board of directors retained Demeter Group to perform a business valuation, which considered the strategic implications of both a merger with a competing regional cooperative and outright sale to a national grocery wholesaler.

Best Cellars, a specialty retailer founded in 1996 in New York City by wine visionary and sommelier Joshua Wesson, changed the way wine is sold in the U.S. by offering a selection of affordable wines with broad appeal organized into easy-to-understand taste categories, such as “Soft”, “Smooth” and “Fizzy”.

Del Monte Foods is one of the country’s largest and most well-known producers, distributors, and marketers of premium quality, branded food and pet products for the U.S. retail market, generating more than $3 billion in net sales. In March 2006, Demeter Group was retained by Del Monte Foods to identify, prioritize, and evaluate acquisition opportunities in natural food and beverage categories.

Bakkavör USA is a unit of Bakkavör Group, a $3 billion global supplier of fresh prepared foods and produce, that was formed for the January 2008 acquisition of Two Chefs On A Roll, one of the nation’s foremost manufacturers of innovative, custom specialty bakery, and savory prepared foods. In November 2008, Demeter Group was retained by Bakkavör USA for strategic advisory work to assist in developing a corporate development roadmap and financing plan for North American expansion through both organic growth and M&A.

Anisa International (“Anisa”) is a leading contract manufacturer of private label cosmetic brushes. Anisa’s customers include the largest beauty companies in the world such as Estée Lauder and L’Oréal, innovative niche brands such as Bare Escentuals and smashbox, and beauty retailers such as Sephora and Target.

Lise Watier Cosmétiques, Inc. (“Lise Watier”), best known for artistry color cosmetics, but also offering fragrance and skincare products, is the leading beauty brand in the Quebec drugstore channel and the #4 makeup brand in all of Canada. Lise Watier is majority-owned by Imperial Capital, a Toronto-based private equity fund. At an estimated $52.1 billion in 2008, the U.S. Beauty industry is over seven times the $7.1 billion Canadian Beauty industry.

The Clorox Company (“Clorox”) is a consumer products leader with over $5 billion in revenue and a portfolio comprising some of the most recognized brands, including its namesake bleach and cleaning products, Brita water-filtration systems, and Glad bags, wraps, and containers. Recognizing the importance of social responsibility, Clorox established its “green” initiative, which focuses on changing consumer preference towards sustainability. In August 2007, Clorox acquired Burt’s Bees, a leader in Natural Personal Care (“NPC”) sector, establishing a stake in the sustainability movement, as well as a platform for a personal care division.

Tree Top is an agricultural cooperative that is both a leading producer of U.S.-sourced, premium-quality apple juice and applesauce in the western U.S. and the largest supplier of dried apple products in the world. Tree Top’s current strategy focuses on grower-member returns but the cooperative needs to respond to the growing threats poses by cheap apple concentrate from China and competitors’ aggressive pricing strategies.

Continental Mills is one of the largest family-owned brand marketers of bakery and powdered drink mixes in the U.S. The Company’s flagship brand, Krusteaz, is the leading pancake mix brand in the western U.S. In addition to its Retail division, Continental Mills has substantial Club, Foodservice, and Food Processing businesses.