Sweetmore Heads West with Fantasy Baking

Sweetmore Bakeries, a Chicago-based maker of sweet baked goods backed by Shore Capital Partners, has acquired Fantasy Baking, a California contract baker of cookies and baked bars. Fantasy is Sweetmore’s sixth bakery and its first on the West Coast.

Fantasy Baking makes cookies and bars that grocers, foodservice operators and food brands sell under their own names, along with some branded products. Its cookies are made three ways: wire-cut, where dough is pushed through a die and sliced; rotary-molded, where dough is pressed into shaped cavities on a turning drum; and co-extruded, where dough and a fruit filling are pushed out together as a filled rope and then cut.

Fantasy also makes protein and breakfast bars, fruit-filled and dessert bars, and dry blends and baked pieces that ice cream manufacturers fold into their products. Its products include organic, high-protein, non-GMO, gluten-free and kosher varieties. Customers can bring Fantasy an existing formula or develop one with the company’s in-house research and development team.

Fantasy operates four production lines using tunnel ovens — long conveyor ovens that products move through as they bake — at a plant certified under the SQF food safety program used by large retailers and food companies. Products are shipped as assortment packs, gift trays, stand-up pouches, foodservice cases and packages for supermarket in-store bakeries.

The company was founded in 1979 in San Fernando, California, as Fantasy Cookie Co., making hand-decorated novelty cookies and gingerbread houses. It acquired Meyers Cookie Co. in 1985, adding its first tunnel oven and moving into private label, and Adrian’s Fine Cookies in 1989.

Over time, the company shifted toward healthier cookies, nutrition bars and snacks. Fantasy Baking, led by CEO Russ Case, is headquartered in Sylmar, California, about 20 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

[caption id="attachment_241341" align="alignright" width="120"] Russ Case[/caption]

“For over 45 years, the Fantasy Baking team has built our business on doing right by our customers – innovation, quality, and service our partners can rely on,” said Mr. Case. “Joining a like-minded partner like Sweetmore allows us to continue this tradition while providing access to scale and resources that will enable Fantasy to serve a broader audience and expand its capabilities.”

Sweetmore Bakeries makes biscotti, brownies, cinnamon rolls, cookies, Danish, dessert bars, Mexican pan dulce, muffins, granola, icings and fillings for supermarket in-store bakeries and foodservice customers. Its products are sold thaw-and-serve, ready to bake or shelf-stable.



Sweetmore has nearly 500 employees and is led by Chief Executive Officer David Veenstra. Richard Boos, a partner at Shore and head of its food and beverage group, is chairman.

Shore formed the platform in September 2019 with its recapitalization of Main Street Gourmet, an Ohio-based maker of muffins, cookies and bars. It then added Biscotti Brothers Bakery, a Pennsylvania-based maker of biscotti and pizzelle (2020); Meurer Brothers Bakery, a Wisconsin-based maker of Danish, coffee cakes and shortbread (2021); Sweet Eddie’s, a Georgia-based maker of cinnamon rolls (2024); and Azteca Bakeries, an Arizona-based maker of Mexican pan dulce (2025). The bakeries adopted the Sweetmore name in 2022.



In May 2025, Shore moved Sweetmore into a single-asset continuation vehicle, giving investors in the original fund an opportunity for liquidity while allowing Shore to retain ownership and continue backing the company’s growth. Monroe Capital provided a senior credit facility to support the transaction and future acquisitions.

Fantasy gives Sweetmore something it did not have: a West Coast manufacturing plant. It also adds cookies and baked bars, including protein and breakfast bars, to a lineup built around muffins, Danish, cinnamon rolls and pan dulce.

[caption id="attachment_241337" align="alignright" width="120"] David Veenstra[/caption]

“Fantasy Baking gives us a true West Coast manufacturing footprint and deeper category capabilities that strengthen our ability to serve customers' various product needs nationwide,” said Mr. Veenstra. “Between their R&D bench strength and their reach into better-for-you trends, this addition makes Sweetmore an even stronger strategic national partner.”

U.S. cookie sales reached $4.4 billion in 2025 and are projected to grow about 1.9% annually to $5.0 billion by 2031, according to Mordor Intelligence. Protein bars are growing faster. Grand View Research puts the U.S. market at $5.3 billion in 2025 and projects it will reach $8.2 billion by 2033, a 5.6% annual growth rate. Supermarket in-store bakeries sold $21 billion of goods in the year through August 2025, up 2.6%, according to FMI – The Food Industry Association. Demand is also shifting toward gluten-free, organic and high-protein products and smaller, individually wrapped portions. Grocers increasingly buy frozen, thaw-and-serve and pre-portioned products from outside bakeries rather than making everything from scratch in the store.



Sweetmore competes with Give & Go Prepared Foods, a Toronto-based in-store bakery supplier founded in 1989 and owned by Mondelēz International since 2020; Rise Baking Company, a Minneapolis-based baker founded in 2013 and owned by Platinum Equity and Butterfly Equity since September 2024; McKee Foods, the family-owned Tennessee-based maker of Little Debbie founded in 1934; and Dawn Foods, a family-owned Michigan-based bakery supplier founded in 1920.

Recent private equity deals in the sector include Platinum Equity and Butterfly’s September 2024 acquisition of Rise Baking from Olympus Partners; One Equity Partners’ March 2025 agreement to acquire Indianapolis-based CraftMark Bakery; Cotton Creek Capital’s November 2025 acquisition of San Diego-based Ne-Mo’s Bakery; and Rise Baking’s July 2026 acquisition of Jimmy’s Gourmet Bakery.

Shore Capital Partners invests in food and beverage platforms with revenue of $5 million to $100 million and EBITDA of $1 million to $10 million, and in add-ons with revenue of $1 million or more. Across the firm, Shore invests in healthcare, food and beverage, business services, industrials and real estate. It is currently investing from its third food and beverage fund, which closed oversubscribed in July 2025 with more than $450 million, up from more than $290 million for its second fund in 2022. Shore was founded by Managing Partner Justin Ishbia and is headquartered in Chicago, with an office in Nashville.

Monroe Capital was joint lead arranger on the senior credit facility used to finance the acquisition, the same role it played in Shore’s 2025 recapitalization of Sweetmore. Monroe provides direct loans, technology finance, venture debt, structured credit and other forms of private credit to companies owned by private equity firms and independent sponsors. Monroe closed its fifth private credit fund in January 2026 with $6.1 billion of investable capital and managed about $23 billion at the end of 2025. Wendel Group acquired a 75% stake in the firm in March 2025. Monroe was founded in 2004 by Ted Koenig and is headquartered in Chicago.

Alantra was the financial advisor to Fantasy Baking. Monroe Capital was joint lead arranger of the senior credit facility.