Hispanic dairy products company Tropical Cheese announced it has acquired Cibao Meat Products, which manufactures Hispanic-style meat products under the Induveca and Campesino brands. Cibao will become “Cibao Meat Products Division” under Tropical’s ownership.
With this acquisition, Tropical — which was founded in 1982 — will now offer a more complete portfolio of branded Hispanic refrigerated foods, adding to its leadership position in Hispanic cheeses across the eastern U.S. retail landscape. Tropical is backed by Avance Investment Management and AUA Private Equity.
“With Cibao, we will significantly strengthen our meats division, expand our Hispanic foods platform, and broaden our reach across the food industry and Hispanic community,” said Vic Mehren, CEO of Tropical Cheese. “Like Tropical Cheese, Cibao is a family-built company with a legacy that reflects our shared values of having pride in what we do, providing quality products to our customers, and supporting the dedicated, hardworking team members who are the key to our success.”
Cibao was founded in 1969, and is a third-generation family-owned business out of Rockaway, N.J. It brings a robust cold-chain logistics operation to its new parent company in addition to the meat product lines.
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.