In total, we achieved record first quarter net sales of $505.1 million, a 12.4% increase from Q1 2020.
Net sales in our base business, which excludes the Crisco acquisition completed in December, were approximately $447 million, virtually flat versus first quarter 2020 at a modest 0.6% decline.
Within that number, US base business net sales were up 2.1% while international base business net sales were down 31.8%.
Compared to fiscal 2019 our base business net sales, which for purposes of the two-year comparison also exclude Clabber Girl and Farmwise net sales increased $16.6 million or 4% for the quarter.
Our $447 million of base business net sales were supplemented by the $58 million of Crisco net sales, bringing our total net sales up to the $505 million figure.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter also set a first quarter record at $92.9 million a 15.2% increase, a result of solid base business volume and earnings and a fulsome Crisco benefit in our first few months of ownership.
We reported net sales of $505.1 million in the first quarter, an increase of $55.7 million or 12.4% compared to the prior year first quarter and an increase of nearly $95 million or 22.4% compared to the first quarter of 2019.
Crisco generated approximately $58.1 million in net sales for the quarter, which is slightly ahead of our internal model.
Base business net sales, which excludes the benefit of Crisco, were essentially flat to last year's first quarter, were down 0.6%.
Excluding the benefit of Crisco, net sales were up approximately $34.4 million or 8.3% from Q1 2019, approximately $17.7 million of which was due to the May 2019 acquisition of Clabber Girl and the February 2020 Farmwise acquisition and approximately $16.7 million of which was due to base business net sales growth.
We generated adjusted EBITDA before COVID-19 expenses of $95.8 million in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of $15 million or 18.5%.
During the first quarter of 2021, we incurred approximately $2.9 million in incremental COVID-19 costs at our manufacturing facilities, which primarily included temporary enhanced competition for our manufacturing employees, compensation we continue to pay the manufacturing employees while in quarantine, and expenses related to the precautionary health and safety measures.
As discussed in our fourth quarter and full year 2020 call, we expect to see a continued reduction in these costs, which averaged $1.5 million per month during the height of the pandemic.
Inclusive of these costs, we reported adjusted EBITDA of $92.9 million which is an increase of $12.2 million or 15.2% compared to last year's first quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA before COVID-19 expenses as a percentage of net sales was 19% in the first quarter of 2021.
Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net sales was 18.4%.
Adjusted EBITDA before COVID-19 expenses as a percentage of net sales and adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net sales were 18% in the first quarter of 2020 as COVID-19 expenses did not fully kick in until the second quarter of 2020.
We reported $0.52 in adjusted diluted earnings per share in the first quarter of 2021 an increase of $0.06 per share or 13% compared to the prior year first quarter.
Net sales of our spices and seasonings including our legacy brand such as Ac'cent and Dash and the brands we acquired in 2016 such as Tone's and Weber were up by $30 million or 41.2% for the quarter.
Net sales of spices and seasonings were up by $17.1 or 20% compared to the first quarter of 2019.
Net sales of spices and seasonings reached $397.7 million for the 12 months ended March 2021.
Maple Grove Farms generated approximately $20.7 million in net sales during the first quarter of 2021 an increase of $2.3 million or 12.1% compared to Q1 2020, and an increase of $2.8 million or 15.5% compared to Q1 2019.
Las Palmas generated $10.7 million in net sales during the first quarter of 2021, an increase of $0.2 million or 1.8% compared to Q1 2020 and an increase of $1.3 million or 14.4% compared to Q1 2019.
Ortega generated $39 million in net sales during the first quarter of 2021, an increase of $0.2 million or 0.4% compared to Q1 2020 and an increase of $1.7 million or 4.6% compared to Q1 2019.
Green Giant, which was one of the largest beneficiaries of COVID-19 pandemic buying of the past year in our portfolio had approximately $639 million in net sales during fiscal 2020, an increase of $112.2 million or 21.3% compared to the prior year.
Primarily as a result of those decisions, Green Giant net sales were just $132.5 million in the quarter, a decrease of $25.9 million or 16.4% compared to the prior year quarter.
However demand for Green Giant remained strong and we expect a strong second half of the year and we expect full year net sales of Green Giant products to exceed the brand's fiscal 2019 net sales of approximately $525 million.
Cream of Wheat for example generated $18.2 million in net sales during the first quarter of 2021, a decrease of $0.7 million or 4% compared to Q1 2020, but an increase of $0.8 million or 4.3% compared to Q1 2019.
Clabber Girl generated $17.4 million in net sales during the first quarter of 2021 a decrease of $1.3 million or 6.8% compared to Q1 2020, but significantly greater than the estimated $15 million or so of net sales generated during the Q1 2019 period under prior ownership.
Our gross profit was $117.8 million for the first quarter of 2021 or 23.3% of net sales.
Excluding the negative impact of approximately $5.5 million of acquisition divestiture related expenses, the amortization of acquisition related inventory, fair value step up, and non-recurring expenses included in the cost of goods sold, our gross profit would have been $123.3 million or 24.4% of net sales.
Gross profit was $104.9 million for the first quarter of 2020 or 23.3% of net sales.
Excluding the negative impact of approximately $2.3 million of acquisition divestiture related expenses and non-recurring expenses included in cost of goods sold, our gross profit would have been $107.2 million or 23.9% of sales.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the year were $50.4 million or 10% of net sales.
This compares to $40 million or 8.9% for the prior year.
The dollar increase in SG&A is primarily composed of an incremental $4 million investment in consumer marketing, $1.9 million in incremental acquisition related costs, and non-recurring expense, which primarily relate to the acquisition and integration of the Crisco brand and $4.1 million in increased warehousing costs.
General and administrative expenses increased by $1.3 million.
These costs were partially offset by decreased selling expenses of $0.9 million.
As I mentioned earlier, we generated $95.8 million dollars in adjusted EBITDA before COVID-19 expenses and after the inclusion of $2.9 million of COVID-19 expenses adjusted EBITDA of $92.9 million.
This compares to adjusted EBITDA before COVID-19 expenses of $80.8 million in Q1 2020 and $75.8 million in Q1 2019.
We generated $0.52 in adjusted diluted earnings per share in the first quarter of 2021 compared to $0.46 per share in Q1 2020 and $0.44 per share in Q1 2019.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $26 million during the first quarter of 2021 compared to $57.6 million during Q1 2020.
The majority of the decrease was driven by the timing of an approximately $24 million interest payment for 2025 notes on April 1, which happened to fall into our first quarter for this year and our second quarter last year.
The remainder of the decrease was driven by a $12.6 million increase in incentive compensation paid in cash as a result of the Company's very strong performance in fiscal 2020 relative to the prior year.
Our consolidated leverage ratio, as defined by our credit agreement, and which is calculated on a pro forma and net debt basis, was 5.23 times and remains within our long-term leverage target of 4.5 to 5.5 times and well below our credit agreement covenant threshold of 7 times.
We are reaffirming our 2021 sales guidance that we provided in March as we continue to expect Company record net sales of $2.05 billion and $2.1 billion in fiscal 2021 inclusive of the benefit of a full year of the Crisco acquisition.
For the second quarter we expect something similar with our base business net sales to trend much closer to our 2019 net sales than our 2020 net sales, may be low to mid single-digit percentage points higher than what we experienced in 2019.
Historically, Crisco generated about 20% of its full year net sales in the April to June period.
As a result, we expect to generate adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net sales of approximately 18% to 18.5%, which is generally consistent with our performance in the recent fiscal years.
As I said at the beginning of the call, the quarter played out much as we expected with substantial sales gains in the first 10 weeks and then tough comparisons in the last few.
As Bruce described, the largest dollar decline we saw in quarter-to-quarter sales was in Green Giant, down 16.4%.
Excluding the Green Giant brand and the remarkable swing in that brand, net sales for the remainder of our base business increased by 8.1% over first quarter 2020.
At $58.1 million in net sales it is tracking to our expectations and margins were accretive to our overall results.
With the addition of Crisco, we estimate that our baking at home brands will be approximately 20% of our net sales.
While there are no complete or precise measures of net sales through this means, we are able to estimate that retail sales of our brands these various e-commerce venues grew by over 60% to $50 million in the first quarter.
At this point we estimate that e-commerce retail sales for the full year will continue to grow at that rate and reach $275 million this year.
Our household penetration has grown substantially in the past year and is up almost 10 percentage points versus 12 months ago.
While this was a $2.9 million negative in the first quarter, we should save much of the $13.3 million we spent on COVID-19 related measures in the last three quarters of 2020.
Our net sales increased by 38% in the second quarter of 2020 over 2019, reflecting the height of the pandemic pantry loading.

Summary:
We reported net sales of $505.1 million in the first quarter, an increase of $55.7 million or 12.4% compared to the prior year first quarter and an increase of nearly $95 million or 22.4% compared to the first quarter of 2019.
We reported $0.52 in adjusted diluted earnings per share in the first quarter of 2021 an increase of $0.06 per share or 13% compared to the prior year first quarter.
We generated $0.52 in adjusted diluted earnings per share in the first quarter of 2021 compared to $0.46 per share in Q1 2020 and $0.44 per share in Q1 2019.
We are reaffirming our 2021 sales guidance that we provided in March as we continue to expect Company record net sales of $2.05 billion and $2.1 billion in fiscal 2021 inclusive of the benefit of a full year of the Crisco acquisition.
For the second quarter we expect something similar with our base business net sales to trend much closer to our 2019 net sales than our 2020 net sales, may be low to mid single-digit percentage points higher than what we experienced in 2019.