Watershed Foods

Contract Food Manufacturingwatershedfoods.com

Company typePrivate
Founded2004
HeadquartersGridley, United States
Headcount51–100
GTM typeB2B
OfferingHardware or Manufacturing

Watershed Foods firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Watershed Foods
Legal name: Watershed Foods LLC
Website: https://watershedfoods.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2004
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 51–100 employees
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Watershed Foods industry classification

Industry

Product category: Contract Food Manufacturing
NAICS: Food Manufacturing (311), Other Food Manufacturing (3119), Dried and Dehydrated Food Manufacturing (311423)
SIC: Food And Kindred Products (2000), Canned, Frozen & Preservd Fruit, Veg & Food Specialties (2030), Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)
akta.pro primary industry: Baby Meals & Ready-to-Eat Foods (Pouches, Bowls, Refrigerated/Frozen) (CRADAEAG)

Keywords

Contract food manufacturing
Freeze-dried ingredients
Private label snacks
Pet food manufacturing
Co-manufacturing services

Where Watershed Foods is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Gridley
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

Watershed Foods business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Hardware or Manufacturing
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

Contract Manufacturing / Private Label: Watershed Foods operates as a multi-process contract manufacturer producing private label and branded products for consumer food companies. Revenue is generated through manufacturing fees for freeze-dried, baked, roasted, and popped food products across toddler nutrition, snacks, and pet nutrition verticals.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Other	Multi-year contract	B2B contract manufacturing - quote-based pricing

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Watershed Foods product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Watershed Foods is a multi-process contract manufacturer specializing in freeze-drying, oven-baking, and roasting & popping for consumer food brands. The company produces private-label and branded products across three verticals: toddler nutrition, snacks, and pet nutrition, operating from Midwest facilities in Illinois and Wisconsin with SQF Level 3 certification.

Product overview

Watershed Foods is a family-owned multi-process food manufacturer offering three core capabilities: Freeze-Drying, Oven-Baking, and Roasting & Popping. The company serves three market verticals (Toddler Nutrition, Snacks, and Pet Nutrition) and operates a sub-brand called Top Fox Snacks. In 2026, the company announced plans to enter the ready-to-eat popcorn market through a newly formed entity called Heartland Food Solutions LLC. The product portfolio includes freeze-dried snacks (fruits, vegetables, yogurt melts, probiotic bites for toddlers and pets), oven-baked products (pet kibble, treats, biscuits, baked clusters), and popped/roasted items (popcorn, nuts, seeds, ancient grains). All capabilities are manufactured at Midwest facilities (Illinois and Wisconsin) with SQF Level 3 certification.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Freeze-Drying

Quantifiable outcome

97% nutrients retained through freeze-drying process
+3 more outcomes

Companies that use Watershed Foods

Customer profile

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Watershed Foods technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Watershed Foods partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

Aunt Em's Gourmet Popcorn Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Watershed Foods is acquiring Aunt Em's Gourmet Popcorn Inc.'s equipment to enter the ready-to-eat popcorn market. This equipment acquisition enables the company to expand its roasting & popping capabilities under the newly formed Heartland Food Solutions LLC entity.
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic OpportunitycoreOthers · 1 January 2026The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity granted $1 million in development funding to the Village of Deer Creek to support Watershed Foods' expansion, enabling the creation of 40 jobs in the community.
Lifesong for OrphansminorOthersWatershed Foods supports Lifesong for Orphans, a ministry whose purpose is to bring joy and purpose to the lives of orphans. The company supports their operations so children can have food, clothing, medical care, shelter, Christian training, education, and continued support as they transition into adult living.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Watershed Foods competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Broad incumbents

TreeHouse Foods: TreeHouse Foods is a large public private-label food manufacturer serving retail and foodservice across snacks, baking, and meals. While much broader in scale and category mix than Watershed, it competes for the same private-label/contract-manufacturing RFPs and serves overlapping CPG brand customers.
Diamond Pet Foods: Diamond Pet Foods manufactures and co-manufactures premium pet foods and treats for multiple pet brands. Its contract-manufacturing and baked/freeze-dried pet-treat capabilities overlap directly with Watershed's Pet Nutrition vertical.
Hearthside Food Solutions: Hearthside Food Solutions is a large contract and private-label manufacturer of baked snacks, bars, cookies, and nutrition products. Its B2B contract-manufacturing focus across snacks and nutritional food categories closely resembles Watershed's multi-process snack and toddler-nutrition business model at much larger scale.
Sunshine Mills: Sunshine Mills is a large U.S. pet-food contract manufacturer producing dry kibble, baked treats, and private-label pet products. It competes with Watershed for pet-brand co-manufacturing volumes and shares the baked/oven-finished pet-treat capability profile.
Post Consumer Brands: Post Consumer Brands is a major private-label and branded cereal/snack manufacturer. Watershed originated as an ingredient supplier for cereal producers, and Post represents a broad incumbent customer/competitor profile for the snack and grain-based snack verticals Watershed serves today.

Direct peers

Van Drunen Farms: Van Drunen Farms is a leading U.S. contract manufacturer of freeze-dried fruits, vegetables, herbs, and specialty ingredients serving food, beverage, and nutritional supplement brands. Like Watershed, it focuses on freeze-drying as a core capability and sells primarily B2B to consumer-brand customers.
Chaucer Foods: Chaucer Foods is a global freeze-dried ingredient and product manufacturer serving bakery, beverage, and nutrition customers. Its multi-category freeze-dried capabilities and ingredient-supplier business model place it in the closest direct-competitor set to Watershed's contract-manufacturing freeze-drying line.
Mercer Foods: Mercer Foods is a contract manufacturer specializing in freeze-dried fruits, vegetables, legumes, and prepared foods for private-label and ingredient customers. Its freeze-dried-and-reconstituted capability, B2B private-label model, and food-service/CPG customer mix make it one of the closest direct comparables to Watershed.
OFD Foods: OFD Foods manufactures freeze-dried and air-dried meals and ingredients for outdoor, emergency, and private-label customers. Its private-label freeze-dried meal business and contract-manufacturing model directly parallel Watershed's freeze-dried toddler, snack, and prepared-meal offerings.
Bryson Direct: Bryson Direct is a private-label and contract manufacturer of snacks, granola, bars, and baked foods serving major CPG brands. Its focus on multi-process contract manufacturing for branded snack customers is highly comparable to Watershed's snack and baked-cluster contract business.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Watershed Foods compliance and trust

Trust signal

Compliance1 record

Watershed Foods financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Watershed Foods leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Watershed Foods funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Watershed Foods M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Watershed Foods

What does Watershed Foods do?

Is Watershed Foods a public or private company?

Watershed Foods is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.

When was Watershed Foods founded?

Watershed Foods was founded in 2004. It employs 51 to 100 people.

Where is Watershed Foods based?

Watershed Foods is headquartered in Gridley, United States, in the North America region.

How does Watershed Foods make money?

One revenue line is on record: contract Manufacturing / Private Label.

Who are Watershed Foods's main competitors?

Broad incumbents on record are TreeHouse Foods, Diamond Pet Foods, Hearthside Food Solutions, Sunshine Mills and Post Consumer Brands. Direct peers are Van Drunen Farms, Chaucer Foods, Mercer Foods, OFD Foods and Bryson Direct.

Does Watershed Foods have an API?

No public API is recorded for Watershed Foods.

What industry is Watershed Foods in?

Watershed Foods's product category is Contract Food Manufacturing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRADAEAG, Baby Meals & Ready-to-Eat Foods (Pouches, Bowls, Refrigerated/Frozen). Its NAICS code is 311 and its SIC code is 2000.