Advertisement

Header Utility Menu

  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Events

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

  • Login

Virginia Business

Mobile Menu

  • Issues
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Business Law
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • Coronavirus 2020
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Vote Now for Women in Leadership
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read the issue
    • Order a copy
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Nominate execs for 2021

Advertisement

Header Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Home News latest news Perfect recipe

Perfect recipe

Published July 2, 2019 by Kate Andrews

Sauer's Vanilla Sign at Night

The company behind the 102-year-old Duke’s Mayonnaise is changing hands, but the new owners have no intention to tinker with the famous brand’s recipe.

“We don’t plan to mess with perfection,” says Chip Johnson, a principal at Charlotte, North Carolina-based Falfurrias Capital Group. Falfurrias is a private equity firm that will acquire Richmond-based C.F. Sauer Co. July 15, pending shareholder approval and other closing conditions. The company will then change its name to Sauer Brands Inc.

The deal with Falfurrias transferred ownership from the Sauer family, who ran the company for 132 years. Founded by Conrad Frederick Sauer, C.F. Sauer Co. began selling flavor extracts in 1887 and expanded to condiments, spices, seasonings and other lines, such as Duke’s, its flagship product. Other C.F. Sauer brands include The Spice Hunter, Gold Medal and BAMA.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the purchase will be Falfurrias’ largest acquisition, according to spokesman David Coburn. Co-founded by former Bank of America CEO Hugh McColl in 2006, Falfurrias is also known for acquiring Bojangles Inc. fried chicken fast-food chain in 2007, which it then sold for an undisclosed amount in 2011.

Falfurrias plans to retain C.F. Sauer’s 860 employees, including 165 in Richmond. With a 14-person staff and a portfolio of eight companies including a software firm, a caterer and a manufacturing and distribution business, Falfurrias doesn’t anticipate layoffs because it’s a small firm and needs the local manpower, says William W. “Bill” Lovette, C.F. Sauer Co.’s interim CEO and executive chairman.

“We want to grow the company, both the headquarters and the operations,” Lovette says, “so we plan for Richmond to be the headquarters long-term, as it is today.”

Lovette succeeds Conrad F. Sauer IV, the only remaining Sauer family member to stay on C.F. Sauer Co.’s board. Falfurrias will own all of the food properties, but the Sauer family will continue to own Richmond-based Sauer Properties, which owns 24 acres of commercial and industrial property near the city’s Fan District, including a mixed-use retail and office project at 2200 W. Broad St. that will be anchored by Whole Foods Market. The Sauers are not giving interviews about the sale, according to a family spokesperson. 

Johnson, who will join the C.F. Sauer Co. board, said that the company was drawn to Sauers by the way the company grew regional assets such as Duke’s and The Spice Hunter into national brands. Sauer’s culture and “values system” also were appealing to his firm, as well as the overall financial durability offered by food companies.

Lovette, Johnson and Falfurrias principal Ken Walker will work with a search firm to find the company’s new CEO, but Lovette says, “We’re in no particular hurry in finding a CEO. I’m willing to take the time to find a CEO that fits culturally. I’m willing to be present in Richmond, and I think I’m going to enjoy being there.”

 

Photos of C.F. Sauer sign, Johnson courtesy of Falfurrias Capital Group

Related Stories

Virginia Business logo

Moving company creates 75 jobs in Dinwiddie

Virginia Business logo

Exelis spins off mission systems business

Virginia Business logo

Groundbreaking held for new Veterans Care Center in Fauquier County

Trending

Finance/Insurance: STEPHAN Q. CASSADAY

Finance/Insurance: PAUL B. MANNING

Federal Contractors/Technology: JASON PROVIDAKES

Education: ANNE M. KRESS

Artemis I to launch with help from Va. contractors

Sponsored Stories

Why is my Less Than Truckload (LTL) freight pricing going up and my service level going down?  

Beyond Juneteenth – How Capital One is Commemorating and Implementing Change

How We Help Your Business Operate Better

Before the Breach: Get Serious About Cyber Resilience

Professionals are Discovering What it Means to Live Uniquely in the Alleghany Highlands of Virginia

Riverside Logistics Celebrates 25th Anniversary!

Girls for a Change Empowers Black Youth for the Future Workforce

The Jackson Ward Collective is equipping Black-owned small businesses with the tools for success

Advertisement

Advertisement

Trending

Finance/Insurance: STEPHAN Q. CASSADAY

Finance/Insurance: PAUL B. MANNING

Federal Contractors/Technology: JASON PROVIDAKES

Education: ANNE M. KRESS

Artemis I to launch with help from Va. contractors

Sponsored Stories

Why is my Less Than Truckload (LTL) freight pricing going up and my service level going down?  

Beyond Juneteenth – How Capital One is Commemorating and Implementing Change

How We Help Your Business Operate Better

Before the Breach: Get Serious About Cyber Resilience

Professionals are Discovering What it Means to Live Uniquely in the Alleghany Highlands of Virginia

Riverside Logistics Celebrates 25th Anniversary!

Girls for a Change Empowers Black Youth for the Future Workforce

The Jackson Ward Collective is equipping Black-owned small businesses with the tools for success

Get Virginia Business directly on your tablet or in your mailbox!

Subscribe to Virginia Business

Advertisement

Advertisement

Footer Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Footer Secondary Menu

  • Industries
  • Regions
  • Reports
  • Company News
  • Events

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Sign Up

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

Footer Utility Menu

Copyright © 2023 Virginia Business. All rights reserved.

Site Maintained by TechArk