Diana Levy Sold Most of Undercover Snacks to Mondelēz, Stayed CEO

Most snack-brand sales end with a founder leaving. This one ends with a founder staying. When Mondelēz International agreed to take a majority stake in Undercover Snacks, announced on October 30, 2026, Diana Levy stayed on as CEO, keeping what the release calls a significant minority stake and a board seat. The price, the size of the stake and the closing timetable were not disclosed.

At a glance

A celiac diagnosis and a hand-made batch

The origin is a family problem. Two of Levy’s three daughters were diagnosed with celiac disease, and she set out to make a chocolate snack that tasted good and was gluten-free, per Snack & Bakery and Just Food. The result was chocolate-covered quinoa crisps, free of gluten, nuts and nearly every major allergen except dairy.

In a 2023 Food Chain Magazine interview, Levy said: “I was initially making small batches by hand.” A single Whole Foods store in New Jersey took the product first; regional buyers then approved it across the Northeast. The article describes the catch: with limited production capacity, she lost early chances with other retailers. Her fix was to learn how factories work. She attended manufacturing trade shows abroad, and she and her husband funded their own plant, moving from a 2,000-square-foot commercial kitchen in 2017 to a 12,000-square-foot facility by mid-2018, according to the same piece.

The founding year differs by source: Just Food and Snack & Bakery say the company launched in 2017; Food Chain says Levy began developing the product in 2016.

The airline contract

The most unusual channel is the sky. Food Chain reported that Undercover’s products have been in United Airlines snack boxes since September 2021, and quoted Levy saying the airline “is now purchasing and distributing millions of units from us each month.” The October 2026 release says United has handed out more than 175 million units since 2023 as a complimentary main-cabin snack. That is a captive trial audience most snack brands never get.

The release puts the brand in more than 25,000 retail locations, among them Whole Foods, Target, Walmart, Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, Sprouts and Albertsons, plus Amazon and its own site.

Before Mondelēz: a minority round

The ownership story has two steps. In July 2021, Undercover raised $13.7 million in equity for a minority stake, led by Octagon Capital Holdings and 900 Chocolate Investors with participation from the founders. The money went to retail marketing, new production lines and automation, and management hires. Just Food reported that outside investors held 30.55% afterward, with Levy remaining majority shareholder. Michael Levy, the company’s chairman, is also managing member of Octagon Capital Holdings, per Snack & Bakery.

That is the detail that explains the 2026 terms. The founders were never diluted below control until now, and they negotiated this sale from that position.

What the deal gives each side

According to the release, Diana Levy stays CEO; Michael Levy moves from chairman to President and COO, focused on growth, strategy and operations; both keep a significant minority stake and board seats. Undercover will operate as a standalone business within Mondelēz’s North America Ventures unit, alongside Perfect Snacks, Tate’s Bake Shop and Hu, a structure designed to leave acquired brands their own management.

Mondelēz’s own filing is short on detail. In its Q3 2026 earnings release, chairman and CEO Dirk Van de Put called Undercover “a delicious, crunchy quinoa crisp line” in “the high-growth permissible indulgence segment,” with “a clear runway to expand household penetration and distribution.” Levy’s line in the Undercover announcement: “This is an incredible milestone for all of us at Undercover, but we really view it as just the beginning.”

Undercover is privately held and has never published sales. Michael Levy told Just Food in 2021: “We are privately owned and do not disclose our financial information.” No revenue figure for the brand has been confirmed, so none is given here.

What founders can take from it

• Build the factory knowledge yourself. Levy lost early retail opportunities to capacity limits, then learned production design and built a plant. Owning manufacturing gave her a story a buyer could underwrite.
• Raise a minority round, not a control round. Selling about 30% in 2021 funded automation and kept the founders in charge when a strategic buyer arrived.
• Find a trial channel nobody else has. Airline distribution put the product in front of millions of people without a shelf fight.
• Negotiate the standalone structure. A separate unit inside the buyer is what lets a founder keep running the business.

Related founders

• Elizabeth Stein and Purely Elizabeth: Ferrero’s Sale: another better-for-you food founder who sold to a global confectioner.
• Justin Gill and Bachan’s: Marzetti’s $400 Million Deal: a food founder sale with a disclosed price.
• Founder Exits of 2026: 23 Deals and What Founders Kept: the year’s founder ownership deals in one table.

Sourcing: the deal date, structure, roles, advisers, distribution and Levy’s quotes from the announcement come from Undercover’s PR Newswire release of October 30, 2026, and Mondelēz’s Q3 2026 earnings release (SEC filing), both opened directly. The 2021 round and ownership split are from Snack & Bakery and Just Food; the founding story and quotes from Food Chain Magazine (July 2023) and Snack & Bakery. Price, stake size, revenue and closing date have not been published. Closing is described in some coverage as expected in 2027; that is not confirmed by either primary document and is omitted. No portrait is used; the image is a typographic card.