Italy’s Sammontana Italia Group Acquires Canadian Baker La Rocca Creative Cakes

March 20, 2025

Deal gives Sammontana complementary products to its Bindi brand and fits within the company’s plan to grow in markets outside Italy.

Andy Hanacek

Italian company Sammontana Italia Group has formed a new entity — Sammontana North America — through which it has signed an agreement to acquire La Rocca Creative Cakes, a Canadian company based in Toronto, Ont., that operates in the retail in-store bakery channel. The company produces cakes, desserts and frozen pastries for Canada and U.S. markets.

Sammontana Italia produces and distributes sweet and savory bakery products, frozen pastries, and ice cream for hotels, restaurants, cafés and large-scale retail channels in Italy. This acquisition expands the company in North America and represents an important step toward growing in foreign markets. La Rocca brings complementary synergies to the company’s Bindi brand already in North America, both in terms of sales channels and product assortment, the company noted.

La Rocca was founded nearly 40 years ago by Lina Givens and Harvey Easson along with their sons, Marty and Michael. Since then, the company has become one of the largest premium dessert manufacturers in Canada, the announcement noted. Michael, now president & CEO, has led La Rocca through significant expansion over the past 25 years, and he will continue to lead La Rocca post-acquisition.

The company’s Toronto bakery facility produces more than 120,000 premium cakes per week on average, and the company generated revenue of more than CAD$70 million in 2024. The transaction is expected to close in March 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.