Business

A thinning Campbell’s Soup kicks the salsa

Campbell’s Soup is slimming down in 2019.

The company announced Tuesday it reached an agreement to sell salsa-maker 𝓰Garden Fresh Gourmet to hummus-maker Fountain of Health USA for u🐼ndisclosed terms. The sale comes one week after Campbell announced the sale of its Everett, Wash.-based refrigerated soup plant.

Still remaining in Campbell’s fresh foods portfolio is Bolthouse Farms, but the company said it hopes to shed the beverage brand by the end of its fiscal year in July as it works to restore its balance sheet after the costly acquisition of Snyder’s-Lance foꦇr $6.1 billion in 2018.

Campbell is accepting final bids north of $500 million for Bolthouse, two sources told The Post. The company snagged Bolthouse for $1.5 bꦬillion in 2012, but the brand has since fallen out of favor.

Meanwhile, its effort to shed the international business, which includes Australian cookie brand Arnott’s, keeps pl🎃ugging along, with Campbell also plannꦜing to sell by its fiscal year end.

Some on Wall Street noted that the sale process, which was announced in August, se🅺emed to be delayed, given some of the breathless interest in the brands that was♏ reported in December.

“It is far from clear who wi🍎ll end up with Arnott’s,” one source close to the situation told The Post.

The auction too is still only about at the midway point, the source a𒐪dded.

The sale process, in which Arnott’s and other international brands could fetch up to $3 billion, has been held up because there is less interest i🦹n other parts of their i൩nternational business that were thrown in the mix, a source following the situation said.

Oreo cookie owner Mondelez, 𒉰Nutella-maker Ferrero and private equity players Bain Capital and KKR have until March 20 to submit bids, according to a report released by the Australian Financial Review Tu♓esday.

Campbell, under pressure from activist investor Dan Loeb of Thi🍒rd P♋oint, announced plans in August to sell its international and fresh foods business.

Campbell is expectꦦed to report its fiscal second quarter earnings before the bell Wednesday, and declined comment.