Hain Celestial acquires Europe's Best

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. announced the acquisition of the assets and business of the Europe's Best brand of all natural, frozen fruit and vegetable products in Canada through its Hain Celestial Canada subsidiary.

"Our entry into this growing $385 million Canadian category of frozen fruits and vegetables complements our product offerings while providing us with a new category for potential growth," said Irwin D. Simon, president and CEO of Hain Celestial.

The company plans on expanding Europe's Best lines into other channels of distribution in North America.

All Europe’s Best products are washed and individually quick frozen, by means of a flash freeze process, to retain flavor and freshness and preserve nutritional value.

Europe's Best was previously a brand of Smucker Foods of Canada Corp., a subsidiary of The J. M. Smucker Company.

Terms of the acquisition, which closed on October 5, 2011, were not disclosed.

The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Hain Celestial's earnings in fiscal year 2012.