Pirate Brands

What Pirate Brands does

Pirate Brands is a US-based snack food manufacturer founded in 1987, best known for its flagship Pirate's Booty brand of baked rice and corn puff snacks. The company produces allergen-friendly puffed rice and corn, cheesy puffs, potato chips, and corn sticks, with the core technology being a baked-not-fried formulation using puffed rice and corn blended with real aged white cheddar cheese. Products are gluten-free, nut-free, kosher certified (Orthodox Union), and contain no artificial colors, with the recent Aged White Cheddar refresh adding more real cheese. Pirate's Booty is sold nationwide through grocery stores, mass merchants, and convenience stores, plus through Hersheyland.com e-commerce following the 2018 acquisition by The Hershey Company for $420 million. The brand targets two primary segments: families with children seeking better-for-you lunchbox and family-snack options, and health-conscious snackers seeking allergen-friendly alternatives. Recent product launches include Pokémon Pikachu Shaped Puffs, Captain Bob's Summer Quest family-activity campaign with brand ambassadors Ellie Kemper and Chelsea Anderson, and an expanded variety-pack format. The company operates with 51-100 employees and is headquartered under Hershey's North American Salty Snacks division.

Name

Pirate Brands

Legal name

Pirate Brands

Website

https://piratebrands.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Savory Snacks

NAICS

Other Snack Food Manufacturing (311919)

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Rice Cakes & Grain Snack Manufacturing (AFAKAIAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Specialty Snack Foods Manufacturing (Ethnic/Regional, Gourmet, Functional) (AFAKAIAO), Chips & Savory Snacks (Potato, Tortilla, Extruded) (CRADABAE)

Keywords

• Baked cheese puffs
• Rice corn snacks
• Puffed corn snacks
• Better-for-you snacks
• Gluten-free cheese snacks

Headquarters

HQ city

Sea Cliff

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Consumer Packaged Goods Sales: Pirate's Booty generates revenue through the sale of packaged snack products including rice and corn puffs in various sizes and flavors, sold through retail and e-commerce channels. Revenue is one-time transaction based with no subscription component.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Pirate Brands manufactures baked rice and corn puff snacks under the Pirate's Booty brand, made with real aged white cheddar cheese. The company produces cheese puffs, potato chips, and corn sticks for the better-for-you snack segment, distributed nationally through grocery, mass merchant, and convenience retail channels as well as Hershey's e-commerce platforms.

Product overview

Pirate's Booty is a snack brand owned by The Hershey Company since 2018, founded in 1987. The brand offers baked rice and corn puff snacks made with real cheese. The core product line includes Aged White Cheddar and Aged White Cheddar Blast flavors in various packaging sizes (4 oz, 10 oz party size, individual 0.5 oz packs). The brand also features a collaboration product line (Pokémon Pikachu Shaped Puffs) and engages in family-focused marketing campaigns such as Captain Bob's Summer Quest.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Pirate's Booty Aged White Cheddar: Rice and corn puff snack made with real aged white cheddar cheese
• Pirate's Booty Aged White Cheddar Blast
• Pirate's Booty Variety Pack
• Pirate's Booty Pikachu Shaped Puffs

Products and services

• PIRATE'S BOOTY Aged White Cheddar Rice & Corn Puffs Baked rice and corn puff snack made with real aged white cheddar cheese. Available in multiple sizes including 4 oz bags, 10 oz party size bags, and 0.5 oz individual bags (10-count box). Gluten-free, nut-free, kosher certified, with no artificial colors.
• PIRATE'S BOOTY Aged White Cheddar Blast Rice & Corn Puffs Baked rice and corn puff snack with an Aged White Cheddar Blast flavor variant. Available in 4 oz bags and 10 oz party size bags.
• PIRATE'S BOOTY Variety Pack Rice & Corn Puffs Variety pack of rice and corn puff snacks in an 11 oz, 18-count box format containing multiple flavors.
• PIRATE'S BOOTY Pikachu Shaped Puffs Pokémon collaboration product featuring Pikachu-shaped rice and corn puffs in aged white cheddar flavor, in a 0.45 oz bag, 18-pack format. Licensed by Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK.

Quantifiable outcome

• Retail sales up 3% in Q4 2025 with volume growth of roughly 14% and improved pricing from reduced promotional spending

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Ellie KempercoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 29 June 2026Actress Ellie Kemper has joined Pirate's Booty's Captain Bob's Summer Quest as a brand ambassador. She will help inspire imaginative family play and promote the campaign through her platform. The partnership includes free downloadable family activities designed to encourage creative play and family bonding.
• Chelsea Anderson (Parenting Expert)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 29 June 2026Chelsea Anderson, a parenting expert and digital creator, has partnered with Pirate's Booty for the Captain Bob's Summer Quest campaign. She curates family activities such as DIY compass-making and scavenger hunts designed to encourage imaginative play among children.
• PokémonflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Pirate's Booty has partnered with Pokémon to offer Pikachu Shaped Puffs, featuring activities for kids and downloadable coloring pages. This partnership creates limited-edition products with crossover appeal between the snack brand and the popular entertainment franchise. Products feature Pokémon characters including Pikachu, with activities and content available to enhance the consumer experience.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Lesser Evil: Lesser Evil produces organic, better-for-you popcorn and puffs (including cheese-flavored varieties like Pirate's Booty). It is an emerging challenger in the clean-label kids/family snack segment with overlapping consumer targeting.
• Hippeas: Hippeas makes organic chickpea puffs positioned as a better-for-you, gluten-free alternative. It targets the same family/health-conscious snackers with a similar puffed snack format, albeit using chickpeas rather than rice/corn.
• Bare Snacks: Bare makes baked fruit and veggie chips positioned on simple, clean ingredients for health-conscious families. It targets the same better-for-you family-snacking consumer with an adjacent baked snack platform.

Direct peers

• SkinnyPop: SkinnyPop is a fellow Hershey-owned better-for-you popcorn brand positioned on simple, clean-label ingredients. It targets the same health-conscious families and snackers and is a direct portfolio sibling competing for the same shelf set.
• Popchips: Popchips is a better-for-you popped snack brand with a similar baked-not-fried positioning and family-skewed marketing. It is one of the cleanest direct comparables to Pirate's Booty on production methodology and target consumer.
• Smartfood: Smartfood is a Frito-Lay cheese-flavored popcorn snack targeting the same family/kids better-for-you snacking occasion. Its popcorn-and-cheese product form closely mirrors Pirate's Booty's puffed rice/corn-and-cheese format.
• Dot's Homestyle Pretzels: Dot's is a Hershey-owned salty snack brand that grew over 20% in Q4 2025, making it a direct portfolio comparable within Hershey's North American Salty Snacks division that competes for the same retailer shelf space and consumer occasions.
• Cheetos: Cheetos is the dominant cheese-flavored puffed corn snack and the incumbent Pirate's Booty most directly displaces at the cheese puff shelf. Although fried rather than baked, it competes on flavor profile and kid/family occasions.

Broad incumbents

• Quaker Rice Snacks: Quaker (PepsiCo) makes rice-based snack cakes and crisps that compete with Pirate's Booty's puffed rice offerings. It is a large incumbent with broader portfolio scale and similar better-for-you family positioning.
• Annie's Homegrown (General Mills): Annie's, owned by General Mills, is a broader better-for-you family food brand spanning snacks, mac & cheese, and crackers. It competes with Pirate's Booty for parents seeking wholesome, kid-appealing packaged foods at retail.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCSwX_0zWjWH7eOtvUcGL64w
• Facebookfacebook.com/piratesbooty
• Instagraminstagram.com/hersheyland
• Pinterestpinterest.com/hersheyland
• TikToktiktok.com/@hersheyland
• Xx.com/piratesbooty

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Pirate Brands