Monogram Capital Partners reacquires Western Smokehouse, reinforcing its strategy to scale supply chain partners for the fastest growing food and beverage brands

Western is a market leading manufacturer of better-for-you meat sticks, capitalizing on surging demand for high-protein, clean-ingredient, on-the-go snacks

LOS ANGELES, July 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Monogram Capital Partners, a leading consumer-focused private equity firm, announced today its reacquisition of Western Smokehouse Partners, the leading contract manufacturer of premium, better-for-you meat sticks. The move underscores the firm's deep commitment to investing in supply chain and service assets that power the next generation of category-leading CPG brands. Western marks Monogram's 39^th investment and one of the most successful investments in the firm's history.

Monogram initially invested in Western Smokehouse, a forty-year, family-held business, in 2018 and expanded it from one to three facilities, growing EBITDA nearly 5x over the period. In 2023, Monogram sold a majority stake to AUA Private Equity while retaining a minority interest. Jared Stein, Co-Founder of Monogram and Chairman of the Board at Western, stayed on the board for strategic guidance. After continued success and expansion under AUA's stewardship over the ensuing two years, which grew the company's footprint to five facilities, Monogram approached AUA to reacquire the business. The two firms worked collaboratively to effectuate the transaction. 

"Western Smokehouse exemplifies everything we seek in an investment. It is a family-owned business with a tremendous market growth opportunity, in an area of the supply chain that is incredibly difficult to scale while maintaining quality," said Jared Stein, Co-Founder and Partner at Monogram Capital Partners. "High-protein meat snacks is the fastest growing category we've seen in grocery. We identified the opportunity to leverage our deep CPG experience across both brands and manufacturers and our strategic retail partnerships to accelerate Western Smokehouse's growth. By expanding capacity we're helping to meet the surging consumer demand in market and fueling Western's next significant wave of expansion."

Backed by strong consumer trends favoring high-protein, low-sugar, and on-the-go snacks – further amplified by GLP-1-driven health awareness – Western Smokehouse's positioning has only strengthened. With Monogram's most recent investment, Western Smokehouse is expanding to seven facilities by the end of 2025 to keep up with soaring customer demand. Over the last five years, sales have increased more than sevenfold, bolstered by commercialization of breakthrough product innovation, including zero-sugar sticks and mini sticks, and the strength of its partnerships with category-leading brands such as Chomps and Archer. As a result, Western is at the forefront of the large and growing U.S. better-for-you meat stick market which nearly doubled last year in tracked channels. Strategic M&A, building upon Western's proven technical expertise in meat snack manufacturing, will remain a focus of Monogram's value creation efforts.

"Monogram has been an essential partner in our growth journey, and we're well-positioned to build on our success together," said Matt Bormann, CEO of Western Smokehouse Partners. "We're poised to double our production capacity over the next year, and Monogram's strategic and operational support will be critical as we scale to meet growing demand."

David Benyaminy, Partner at AUA Private Equity, added, "Western has been an exceptional performer in our portfolio. We are proud of the partnership and pleased to transition ownership back to Monogram, who we know will continue supporting the company's next growth phase."

Monogram's unique investment mandate spans both category leading brands – such as Olipop, the leading healthy soda in market recently valued at $1.8B, and Chewy.com, the leading specialty pet retailer that was sold to PetSmart for $3.3B under Monogram's ownership – as well as supply chain and service businesses that empower them as mission-critical partners. This distinctive flywheel has enabled the private equity firm to identify attractive proprietary assets which, combined with its proven playbook as first institutional capital, has been key to Monogram's success. This strategy has driven average profitable growth of approximately 470% across Monogram's portfolio since investment.

In addition to Western Smokehouse, Monogram's co-manufacturing portfolio includes significant control investments in Mountaintop Beverage, a leading low acid aseptic beverage manufacturing platform and Prime Matter Labs, a leading beauty & personal care formulator and manufacturer specializing in suncare, skincare, and haircare applications. The firm continues to explore ways to leverage its manufacturing and supply chain expertise, history of successful M&A, and both greenfield and brownfield facility expansion to build the next generation of consumer manufacturing in the United States.

Monogram funded the transaction through investment vehicles, including a continuation vehicle, managed by the firm. Committed Advisors, an independent secondaries-focused private equity manager with $7B of AUM, was the lead investor in Monogram's continuation vehicle with participation from long-standing partner RCP Advisors and other leading institutional partners. Monogram was advised by Evercore on the transaction, and AUA was advised by Harris Williams.

About Monogram Capital Partners
Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, Monogram Capital Partners currently manages over $1.5B in RAUM, focusing exclusively on investing in leading consumer businesses, supply chain partners, and service providers. With an operationally oriented mindset, the firm seeks to be the first institutional partner to inspire founders and family owners alongside strong management teams to help them achieve their full potential. For more information on Monogram Capital Partners, please visit www.monogramcapital.com.

About Western Smokehouse Partners

Western Smokehouse Partners is the preferred manufacturing solution for the top brands and retailers in the premium, better-for-you, meat sticks category. The company provides co-manufactured, private label, and branded meat snacks. It operates five facilities throughout the United States with plans to expand to seven facilities by the end of 2025. For more information on Western Smokehouse Partners, please visit www.wspartners.com.

About AUA Private Equity

AUA Private Equity Partners is an operationally focused, lower middle-market investment firm providing strategic capital to companies in the consumer products and services sectors with a particular focus on family-owned businesses or companies benefiting from the growth of the U.S. Hispanic population. AUA Private Equity invests in companies in their core sectors that generate in excess of $10 million in EBITDA. For more information on AUA Private Equity Partners, please visit www.auaequity.com.

SOURCE Monogram Capital Partners