Building enduring companies in food and health.
We partner with closely held businesses and stay invested for the long term. We work alongside owners and management on the decisions that shape a company over many years.
Conifer & Company is a long-term holding company. We build vertically integrated businesses in food and nutrition, growing each one through operating work and add-on acquisitions.
WHO WE ARE
HOW WE BUILD
Principal investing
We provide long-term equity and structured capital to support growth and expansion. Our direct investment strategy targets both acquisitions and majority positions alongside owners who want to stay involved.
We facilitate entry into new customers, products, and markets, built on direct relationships with suppliers, co-manufacturers, distributors, and buyers across food, nutrition, and industrial supply chains.
Commercial development
Where we hold significant ownership, we support or recruit operating leadership and organize shared services across the businesses we own. We have an operator-first culture and take direct responsibility across multiple business functions or projects depending on the company’s needs.
Active management
WHERE WE FOCUS
We focus on midstream food and agricultural processing firms. We invest in established companies and build new ones via joint ventures where a supply chain needs them. We work hands-on and stay close to the operating side of each business.
Food and agriculture
Dairy, protein, and specialty ingredients, and the processing, storage, and distribution between the farm and the customer.
Health and nutrition
Protein and nutritional ingredients, food as medicine, and the supply chains that serve clinical and pharmaceutical markets.
LEADERSHIP
Our founding team brings more than 65 years of experience across agriculture, food, and health. We have worked across the entire value chain, from farm to food processing.
Steve Sprieser
Trained as a crop scientist, Steve covered the healthcare and agribusiness sectors at the Boston Consulting Group and has been a co-founder or early employee of four venture-backed companies in those sectors. Steve has worked with farmers and agribusinesses on four continents. At Conifer, he leads investment evaluation and execution.
MANAGING PARTNER
Tony Chavarria
Tony has spent his career on the operating side of nutrition and pharmaceutical markets, ranging from hands-on supply chain arbitrage to leading startups and turnarounds. At Conifer, he leads our portfolio work, spearheading commercial development, risk management, and supply chain strategy.
MANAGING PARTNER
Brian Dawson
Brian has spent more than 25 years in agribusiness and agtech as a three-time founder and investor, and has served on boards across agriculture, food, logistics, and energy. At Conifer, he leads relationships with the firm's long-term capital partners.
MANAGING PARTNER
CONTACT US