Famous Brands International and Taste of Nature, Inc. Announce Licensing Partnership for Mrs. Fields Cookies

BROOMFIELD, Colo., and SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Famous Brands International ("Famous Brands"), the parent company of Mrs. Fields Cookies and The Country's Best Yogurt (TCBY), and Taste of Nature, Inc., a rapidly growing candy and snack food manufacturing company, today announced a new licensing partnership for Mrs. Fields-branded pre-packaged cookies.

Effective January 1, 2018, Taste of Nature, Inc. will become responsible for the manufacturing, sales and distribution of Mrs. Fields pre-packaged shelf stable cookies, including both Everyday and Seasonal varieties, to virtually all classes of trade and sold at grocery and retail locations throughout North America and more than 20 countries worldwide.

Mrs. Fields, known for its freshly baked cookies right out of the oven, opened its first store in 1977 and currently sells products at more than 300 retail locations globally and online, as well as licenses its trademarks, logos and recipes to third parties for distribution. Through its partnership with Taste of Nature, Inc., Mrs. Fields is well-positioned to continue its sales growth within the retailer channel and enhance its industry-leading brand awareness.

"We are delighted to partner with Taste of Nature, Inc. at this exciting phase in our Company's growth," said Dustin Lyman, Chief Executive Officer of Famous Brands. "We are confident this collaboration with Taste of Nature, Inc. will help Mrs. Fields reach an expanded retailer customer base and we look forward to working with a proven industry leader with a 25-year track record of success."

"Mrs. Fields is an iconic global brand led by a talented team at Famous Brands and we are thrilled to welcome its cookies into the Taste of Nature, Inc. portfolio," said Scott Samet, President and Co-Founder of Taste of Nature, Inc. "We recognize Mrs. Fields' commitment to providing delicious, high-quality products to their customers and look forward to growing the brand with our retail partners as part of a long-term partnership."  

ABOUT FAMOUS BRANDS INTERNATIONAL

Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, Famous Brands International ("Famous Brands, or the "Company") owns and manages two category defining, iconic brands: Mrs. Fields and TCBY (The Country's Best Yogurt). The Company markets and distributes its products such as cookies, frozen yogurt, brownies, chocolates and popcorn, through its franchising, gifting, and licensing business segments. The Company's gifting segment markets and distributes products through catalogs, e-commerce, and various retail channels. Additionally, the Company licenses the use of its trademarks, logos and recipes to third parties for distribution of Mrs. Fields and TCBY branded products through non-bakery stores and cafes. With over 750 owned and franchised locations in 33 countries, the Company is currently leveraging the category leading brand awareness of its iconic brands to drive sales across all three channels of the business through an exciting growth strategy. Famous Brands is a portfolio company of Z Capital Partners, L.L.C. ("Z Capital Partners"), the private equity management arm of Z Capital Group, a leading alternative asset management firm with approximately $2.3 billion of regulatory assets under management across complementary private equity and credit businesses.

ABOUT MRS. FIELDS COOKIES

Mrs. Fields is based in Broomfield, Colorado with a production and distribution facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. Debbi Fields opened her first store in Palo Alto, California in 1977 and the Mrs. Fields name quickly became associated with warm, freshly baked cookies right out of the oven. Today, Mrs. Fields enjoys the highest aided brand awareness in the industry and sells products at over 300 retail locations globally and online. Visit https://www.mrsfields.com for more information.

ABOUT TASTE OF NATURE, INC.

Founded in 1992, Taste of Nature, Inc. is a rapidly growing candy and snack food manufacturing company whose fun and innovative products may be found on store shelves nationwide. The company manufactures and markets a large variety of licensed and proprietary brands including: Cookie Dough Bites® in 5 flavors, Cookies N Cream Bites®, Muddy Bears®, Care Bears® Gummi Bears, Sqwigglies®, Cotton Candy Swirlz®, Hawaiian Punch® Cotton Candy, Ginormous® Gummi Bear, Snake Bitez® Gummi Snakes, Santa's Village®, Bunnytail Lane®, Shari Candies® and more. For more information, visit us at www.candyasap.com

Contact:

Jonathan Keehner / Julie Oakes / Tim Ragones
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212-355-4449

SOURCE Famous Brands International