One Rock Pours $650 Million into Maxwell House and Gevalia

One Rock Capital Partners has agreed to acquire the North America coffee business of Kraft Heinz, which sells ground coffee, instant coffee and single-serve pods under the Maxwell House, Gevalia, Yuban and Sanka names, at an enterprise value of $650 million. Kraft Heinz will retain a 30% non-controlling equity stake in the business. The sale follows nine months after the Kraft Heinz board paused a plan, unveiled in September 2025, to split the company into two publicly traded businesses. Kraft Heinz did not disclose a revenue multiple. Based on a back-of-the-envelope calculation using its public filings, the coffee business generates roughly $750 million in annual net sales, implying a multiple of about 0.9x revenue. Coffee accounted for 3% of Kraft Heinz's $24.9 billion in 2025 net sales, a share that has held steady for three years.

The business is organized into three categories: mainstream coffee, coffee pods and premium coffee. Products are sold through grocery stores, mass merchandisers and other retailers to at-home coffee drinkers. The portfolio includes Maxwell House, Gevalia, founded in Gävle, Sweden, in 1853, Yuban, Sanka and the Tassimo single-serve brewing system. In Canada, the business sells Nabob and Ethical Bean. About 250 full-time employees in supply chain, sales, marketing, finance, HR and R&D will move with the business, along with the Jacksonville and Vancouver plants.

In announcing the transaction, Steve Cahillane, CEO of Kraft Heinz, said the sale "is a meaningful step in unlocking value from our portfolio and will further accelerate the momentum behind our transformation." Tony Lee, managing partner of One Rock, said the firm "intend[s] to accelerate investment across the brand portfolio to drive growth and innovation, enhance the consumer experience, and strengthen relationships with retail partners." One Rock targets control investments and complex situations, including corporate carve-outs, and the firm describes food and beverage as a steady theme in its recent activity. Rothschild & Co and Centerview Partners advised Kraft Heinz, while Deutsche Bank Securities and Fifth Third Securities advised One Rock. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2027.

The transaction takes place against a backdrop of steady U.S. coffee consumption. According to the fall 2026 National Coffee Data Trends survey, conducted by Dig Insights for the National Coffee Association, 66% of American adults drank coffee in the past day, unchanged since 2022, and 83% of those past-day drinkers had coffee at home. Specialty coffee consumption reached a record 48% of adults, and out-of-home consumption among past-day drinkers hit 38%, the highest since January 2020. Grocery stores' share of in-home coffee purchases fell to 35% from 42% in January 2026, while mass merchandisers rose to 28% from 23%. Maxwell House competes with Folgers, owned by J.M. Smucker.