, a wood pellet manufacturer, during the pandemic to supply BBQ pellets for Camp Chef. Less than three years later, they’re selling that business to Lignetics.){kind=link}
While Vista Outdoor is undergoing a sale process of their own, they’re also divesting assets in their Revelyst umbrella to focus on their “Power Brands”. Vista purchased Fiber Energy Products (FEP), a wood pellet manufacturer, during the pandemic to supply BBQ pellets for Camp Chef. Less than three years later, they’re selling that business to Lignetics.
Lignetics is the right partner at the right time for Fiber Energy. “Lignetics’ ownership of Fiber Energy will provide the resources and scale that will enable Fiber Energy to reach its full potential, while the sale generates cash for Revelyst that can be reinvested in our power brands and product innovation in support of our GEAR Up growth initiative.
Jordan Judd, President of Revelyst Outdoor Performance
Lignetics and BBQ Pellets
Lignetics is the largest US manufacturer of wood pellets. They’ve been building their portfolio of BBQ pellets since 2015 when they acquired Bear Mountain and then acquired Lumber Jack in 2021. This acquisition grows that part of their business, and strategically makes sense for them.
BBQ Pellet Manufacturing
Vista Outdoor paid about $48 million for FEP in 2021. Given how irrational the outdoor cooking market was at that point, it’s very possible that they didn’t see a return on that investment with the sale to Lignetics. FEP also had an unfortunate fire earlier this year and at that time they noted that they may not rebuild what was damaged in the fire.
Right-sizing BBQ pellet production is something that we’ve seen across the industry. Traeger grew their pellet production during the pandemic and has since been working to rationalize their portfolio. With lower demand and more competition, lowering production capacity makes logical sense.