Case Study

Homemade Gourmet (“HGI”) was formed in 1997 by Tami Van Hoy to provide freshly packaged herbs and spices, along with simple, easy-to-prepare recipes that enable even a novice cook to serve memorable meals in minutes. The company uses a direct sales model with thousands of independent distributors throughout the United States and Canada marketing the company’s products.

In 2006, HGI was brought to the attention of Aspen by John Himelfarb, a successful entrepreneur and former Vice President of Home Interiors. After analyzing the company and sector, Aspen partnered with Mr. Himelfard and Ken Johnsen, a former IBM executive, to purchase a majority stake in the company from Ms. Van Hoy. Ms. Van Hoy retained a significant ownership stake in the new company and plays a key leadership role post closing serving as a Senior Executive responsible for product development and field deployment.

We view this transaction as a clear example of how we partner with management teams to opportunistically purchase equity stakes in small, high growth companies.

“The resources offered by Aspen and the business leadership and experience that John and Ken bring provided a major boost to our already proven track record of growth and success meeting the needs of busy families across America.”
Tami Van Hoy, Founder of Homemade Gourmet