Marzetti Buys This Iconic Japanese BBQ Sauce Brand In $400 Million Deal

The popular BBQ sauce brand Redditors adore is about to have a new owner. Marzetti, a company that specializes in manufacturing products for food service and food retail, just announced it has agreed to a deal that will make it the proprietor of Bachan's Japanese Barbecue Sauce. The $400 million acquisition is expected to be finalized sometime before June 30, 2026 barring any unforeseen regulatory issues.

Bachan's is a relatively fresh face in the retail BBQ sauce game, having launched in 2019. It didn't take long for the brand to gain steam in the retail market, however, winning customers over with its bold, umami-packed take on a culinary staple as well as its commitment to using top-notch, non-GMO ingredients. Still, what likely caught Marzetti's attention was Bachan's sales. Last year alone, the company sold roughly $87 million-worth of its Japanese-American BBQ sauce.

The current CEO and founder of the company, Justin Gill, is excited to see Marzetti take the reins. He said in a statement about the pending acquisition, "Over the last several years, building Bachan's has allowed me to fulfill my childhood dream of bringing my family's sauce to market. My team and I have been working incredibly hard to deliver on this vision of building the first iconic Japanese-American flavor brand, and I am honored to partner with The Marzetti Company for the next stage of making my vision for Bachan's a reality" (via Business Wire).

Some folks may recognize the name Marzetti from seeing the company's dips and dressings on grocery store shelves, but fewer are probably aware it's the producer of Sister Schubert's dinner rolls, New York Bakery garlic bread, and more. Those Texas Roadhouse bread rolls people can't get enough of? Thank Marzetti for getting a retail version at the grocery store. The same goes for the retail version of Chick-fil-A's acclaimed sauces, Olive Garden dressings, and sauces for Subway, Arby's, and Buffalo Wild Wings.

Marzetti's CEO, David A. Ciesinski, is enthusiastic about adding Bachan's to the company's portfolio and has high hopes for the future of the brand. He said, "Bachan's created its original Japanese Barbecue Sauce from a multi-generational family recipe passed down to its founder, Justin Gill, who has done a tremendous job scaling the brand. Over time, we intend to further broaden distribution, support continued product innovation, and thoughtfully extend the brand into new channels and adjacent categories" (per Business Wire).

For Gill, creating Bachan's was a labor of love. In his youth, his grandma ("bachan" in Japanese), shared family traditions and knowledge about Japanese-American culture with Gill through her cooking. Bachan's BBQ sauce was more than just a way to make a buck –- it was a connection to the past, and Gill is confident that sentiment won't be lost with Marzetti once the $400 million deal is finalized. He said, "Marzetti is an organization that deeply shares these values, and I am confident they will honor them in this next chapter for Bachan's."