Hawkins Inc's Business Segments

Hawkins, Inc. distributes, blends and manufactures chemicals and specialty ingredients for our customers in a wide variety of industries. We began our operations primarily as a distributor of bulk chemicals with a strong customer focus. Over the years, we have maintained our strong customer focus and have expanded our business by increasing our sales of value-added chemical products and specialty ingredients, including manufacturing, blending and repackaging certain products. We believe that we create value for our customers through superb service and support, quality products, personalized applications and trustworthy, creative employees.

Industrial Segment. Our Industrial Group specializes in providing industrial chemicals, products and services to industries such as agriculture, chemical processing, electronics, energy, food, pharmaceutical and plating. This group’s principal products are acids, alkalis and industrial and food-grade salts.

The Industrial Group:

Receives, stores and distributes various chemicals in bulk quantities, including liquid caustic soda, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, potassium hydroxide and aqua ammonia;

Manufactures sodium hypochlorite (bleach), agricultural products and certain food-grade products, including liquid phosphates, lactates and other blended products;

Repackages water treatment chemicals for our Water Treatment Group and bulk industrial chemicals to sell in smaller quantities to our customers;

Performs custom blending of chemicals according to customer formulas and specifications; and

Performs contract and private label bleach packaging.

The group’s sales are concentrated primarily in Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin, while the group’s products sold into the food and pharmaceutical markets are sold nationally. The Industrial Group relies on a specially trained sales staff that works directly with customers on their specific needs. The group conducts its business primarily through distribution centers and terminal operations. Agricultural sales within this group tend to be seasonal, with higher sales due to the application of fertilizer during the planting season of March through June given the regions of the country where we are located.

Water Treatment Segment. Our Water Treatment Group specializes in providing chemicals, equipment and solutions for potable water, municipal and industrial wastewater, industrial process water and non-residential swimming pool water. This group has the resources and flexibility to treat systems ranging in size from a single small well to a multi-million-gallon-per-day facility.

The group utilizes delivery routes operated by our employees who typically serve as route driver, salesperson and trained technician to deliver our products and diagnose our customers’ water treatment needs. We believe that the high level of service provided by these individuals allows us to serve as the trusted water treatment expert for many of the municipalities and other customers that we serve. We also believe that there are significant synergies between our Water Treatment and Industrial Groups in that we are able to obtain a competitive cost position on many of the chemicals sold by the Water Treatment Group due to the volumes of these chemicals purchased by our Industrial Group. In addition, our Industrial and Water Treatment groups share certain of our facilities, which leverage fixed costs across both groups.

The group operates out of warehouses in 29 cities supplying products and services to customers primarily in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming. We added two new Water Treatment branches. We entered the Florida market in fiscal 2015 through our acquisition of substantially all the assets of The Dumont Company, Inc. (“Dumont”), with seven operating locations. We expect to continue to invest in existing and new branches to expand the group’s geographic coverage. Our Water

Treatment Group has historically experienced higher sales during April to September, primarily due to a seasonal increase in chemicals used by municipal water treatment facilities.

Health and Nutrition Segment. We established the Health and Nutrition segment of our business in December 2015 through our acquisition of Stauber. Our Health and Nutrition Group specializes in providing ingredient distribution, processing and formulation solutions to manufacturers of nutraceutical, functional food and beverage, personal care, dietary supplement and other nutritional food, health and wellness products. This group offers a diverse product portfolio including minerals, botanicals and herbs, vitamins and amino acids, excipients, joint products, sweeteners and enzymes.

The Health and Nutrition Group relies on a specially trained sales and product development staff that works directly with customers on their specific needs. The group’s extensive product portfolio combined with value-added services, including product formulation, sourcing and distribution, processing and blending and quality control and compliance, positions this group as a one-stop ingredient solutions provider to its customers. The group operates out of facilities in California and New York and its products are sold nationally and, in certain cases, internationally.