Indy-based Bar Keepers Friend maker sold to East Coast investment firm

Bar Keepers Friend offers more than a dozen cleaning products, including its original cleaning powder, at left. (Photos courtesy of Servaas Laboratories Inc.)

Indianapolis-based SerVaas Laboratories Inc., the maker of iconic cleaning products brand Bar Keepers Friend, has been sold to Greenwich, Connecticut-based private equity firm Forward Consumer Partners, the companies announced Wednesday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Forward Consumer Partners said it has appointed former 1440 Foods chief executive Azania Andrews as new CEO of the company, while Forward Founder and Managing Partner Matt Leeds, has become chairman.

Leeds said the company, which has more than 130 employees, would remain based in Indianapolis.

“As the business continues to grow, we expect more jobs will be created across the organization to support expansion into new customers and product offerings,” he said in an email to IBJ.

The companies said Paul SerVaas and other existing shareholders will retain a significant minority ownership stake in SerVaas Laboratories. Paul SerVaas, who has led the company as president since 2004, will remain on the board of directors.

Bar Keepers Friend was developed in Indianapolis in 1882 by chemist George William Hoffman after he observed a badly tarnished pot turn sparkling clean when he used it to cook rhubarb. Hoffman isolated oxalic acid in the vegetable as the key chemical and used it to formulate a cleaning powder that he sold to taverns for use as a brass rail polish. The powder eventually became known as Bar Keepers Friend.

Today, Bar Keepers Friend still sells its original cleaning powder, but its product line has grown to include more than a dozen other cleaners, including a soft cleanser, spray foam, toilet bowl cleaner, stainless steel polish and coffee maker descaler.

Bar Keepers Friend was acquired in 1956 by late business, civic and political leader Beurt SerVaas (Paul’s father), who served on the City-County Council for more than 40 years (1961-2002), including 27 years as president. SerVaas Laboratories manufactures Bar Keepers Friend at a plant near West 52nd Street and Guion Road.

The 65,000-square-foot plant at 5240 Walt Place is capable of turning out 24 million cans of Bar Keepers Friend a year.

Forward Consumer Partners, which invests in branded consumer businesses, closed on it first investment fund in December 2023, raising $425 million. So far, it has used that fund to add at least five brands to its portfolio, including Kodiak food products, Firehook crackers, Xochitl tortilla chips and Via Carota Craft Cocktails.

The fund was developed to makes majority equity investments of $25 million to $100 million in lower mid-market consumer brands, according to the company.

Forward officials said Bar Keepers Friend, or BKF, “has consistently grown net revenue at a double-digit [compound annual growth rate] over the past decade.”

New CEO Andrews spent two years leading New York City-based 1440 Foods, the maker of Pure Protein and FitCrunch bars, which has large manufacturing operations in Jeffersonville, Indiana. She previously spent a decade as an executive at Anheuser-Busch.

“It is a true privilege to join a business that embodies both a legacy of success and incredible future potential,” Andrews said in written remarks. “I am eager to build upon the strong foundation that Paul and his team have created so we can drive the BKF brand to new heights, expand the company’s capabilities, and deepen the loyalty of our valued consumers.”

Paul SerVaas said he expected the acquisition to lift Bar Keepers Friend to the next level.

“In identifying a partner for the next chapter of the BKF story, I knew we needed a team who could support our mission of continuing to build an exceptional business rooted in quality and integrity,” he said in written comments. “Forward shares our vision, our values, and our commitment to excellence. Forward’s track record of helping build iconic consumer brands makes them the ideal partner as we continue to strengthen BKF in the future.”