Snack-centric PE Entrepreneur Acquires Majority Stake in Junkless Foods Granola Bars

Oct. 5, 2023

Mike Repole built up and sold off such brands as Vitaminwater, Bodyarmor and Pirate’s Booty, and looks to elevate Junkless Foods to national prominence.

Andy Hanacek

Private equity group Impact Capital has acquired a majority stake in Junkless Foods, a Portage, Mich., granola bar manufacturer, according to a release. Impact Capital is the PE group of entrepreneur Mike Repole’s family office — Repole co-founded Vitaminwater and Bodyarmor, and held a majority stake in Pirate’s Booty. All three businesses were sold to larger CPG companies. Repole was also a major early investor and board member in Kind, prior to its sale to Mars in 2020.

Repole will partner with Junkless founders Ernie Pang and Larry Beyer to help the better-for-you chewy granola bar brand reach a shared vision of being the next billion-dollar healthy snack platform.

Junkless products are said to be made without artificial ingredients, positioned as a healthier alternative to snacks and bars that contain large amounts of sugar and are “over processed,” the company says. Impact believes the potential to grow the brand through innovation and national distribution is tremendous.

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.