Mattson expands to Chicago with the acquisition of Hyde Park Group

Food and beverage product development firm Mattson is expanding to the Midwest with the opening of Mattson Chicago, marking its first location beyond the San Francisco Bay Area.

For 46 years, Mattson has developed innovative food and beverage products for a wide range of clients from venture-backed entrepreneurs to global corporations, generating billions of dollars in sales. With the strategic acquisition of Chicago, Illinois-based Hyde Park Group Food Innovation, Mattson gains Hyde Park’s Chicago location and its seasoned team of innovators, who will continue to run the Chicago operation.

Together, the companies will offer industry-leading holistic innovation services—from front-end insights, strategy and creative development, through full-service R&D, scale-up and commercialization—to help clients create the future of food.

Mattson Chairman Steve Gundrum said, “The Chicagoland area has always been a nexus of the U.S. food and beverage industry, and having a presence there will enable us to serve even more of the CPGs, restaurant brands and B2B foodservice and ingredient powerhouses in the Midwest and Eastern U.S. The second location allows the company to more conveniently bring the Mattson experience to Chicago and Midwest-based clients.”  

Mary Haderlein, founder and principal of Hyde Park Group Food Innovation, will play a pivotal role in integrating her team’s talent into Mattson’s well-honed innovation capabilities. "We're honored to team up with such a respected, iconic and forward-thinking firm that will bring the best of Silicon Valley innovation and entrepreneurial thinking to Chicago’s flourishing food community," she said.

The new location features a collaborative innovation space and consumer-insights facility located in the vibrant West Town neighborhood. Hyde Park Group’s 20-year expertise will further enhance Mattson’s rapidly growing front end innovation practice—currently serviced by Mattson’s California-based team of employee-owners, including strategists, analysts, food scientists, scale-up specialists—with even more culinary experts and professional chefs.

"We see tremendous opportunity in this acquisition," said Justin Shimek, CEO of Mattson. "We’re excited to collaborate with the entire Chicago food and business community to help enhance Chicago’s reputation as a center of technology and food development. Our deep experience working with both start-ups and mutli-nationals to develop products from new product strategy through commercialization will be a great asset to the city’s thriving food and beverage scene.”

Mattson was founded in 1977 with the goal of collaborating with clients to create better foods and beverages for better living. This can mean better taste, better nutrition, better sustainability, better profitability and better customer experiences.

Source: Mattson