Danone backs US meal-delivery firm Splendid Spoon

Danone has made US meal-delivery firm Splendid Spoon its latest venture-capital investment.

The French giant took part in a Series B funding round for the New York-based direct-to-consumer business, which focuses on ready-made plant-based soups, bowls and smoothies.

Splendid Spoon, which was set up in 2013, said the round had raised US$12m. The company declined to comment on the amount of money it had attracted since it was founded.

Sweden-based investment firm Nicoya led the Series B tranche. Nicoya’s portfolio includes Swedish ice-cream maker Nick’s and local snacks firm Oatlaws. Other investors in Splendid Spoon included Ashok and Meera Vasudevan, the founders of US ethnic-cuisine business Tasty Bite, which they sold to Mars in 2017.

Splendid Spoon, which also refused to be drawn on its annual sales and earnings, said the funds would be used to “scale” its “core product line”, launch more items and hire staff.

Danone made its investment through the Danone Manifesto Ventures VC-style arm the Activia maker set up in 2016.

In a statement, Danone said: “Since its creation in 2016, Danone Manifesto Ventures’ mission has been to invest in disruptive food and food-tech companies which invent new brands, categories and business models aligned with Danone’s mission. With its focus on plant-based diet and a direct-to-consumer delivery model, Splendid Spoon is a great fit.”

Through Danone Manifesto Ventures, the company has so far backed more than a dozen firms, ranging from US vending-machine business Farmer’s Fridge to Drums Food International, the India-based Greek-style yogurt supplier.

In 2019, Danone bought a majority stake in the first company the venture fund had backed, snapping up control of French biscuits-to-yogurt maker Michel et Augustin.

SOUTH AFRICA’S FOOD, DRINK AND HOSPITALITY TRADE EXPO

 
Dear Sir’s
We are delighted to invite your esteemed participation in the premier Food & Beverage and Hospitality Exhibition in South Africa – HOSTEX 2022 in Johannesburg happening from 26-28 June, 2022.
 
HOSTEX is a fully REFRESHED industry platform to launch your INNOVATIONS. The event gives you access to the African market with RENEWED opportunities for business transactions. USE this chance to REINFORCE your RELATIONSHIPS and FORTIFY YOUR BRAND!
 
Why exhibit HOSTEX?

• Access to the African market
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• Schedule meetings at the show with buyers

South African Food Market:

• The South Africa fast food market size was valued at $2.7 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $4.9 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 7.9% from 2019 to 2026. South Africa is the largest foodservice market in the sub-Saharan Africa with a large and highly competitive hospitality industry.
• The country has a large number of domestic as well as international restaurant chains; thereby, fueling the growth of the fast food segment. This is attributed to increase in demand for different types of fast food products from the target customers.
• According to Southern Africa Food Lab, over the past five years, there has been an increase in consumption of convenience food due to rise in availability of take-away vendors. Moreover, easy availability of fast food products is anticipated to influence the cooking practices, that is, decrease the frequency of home cooking; thereby, increasing the dependency on fast food products.
• Urbanization is one of the major factors that drives the demand for fast food products in South Africa. More than 60% of South Africa’s population lives in urban areas. Out of which, more than half of the population relies on fast food products, owing to increase in rate of employment and adoption of busy lifestyle. This has resulted in an increase in number of transactions from fast food chains in recent decades.
• Food and beverages account for the majority of the country’s imports. Beverages, spirits, vinegar, sugar and residual foodstuffs in particular are imported. In 2017, the total value of these imports was approximately €2.2 billion.
• The demand for imports is increasing. Beer, cereals and poultry meat in particular are areas where demand for imports from all countries of origin is growing. The opportunities export products to South Africa is immense, especially on the B2B market and in E-Commerce.

 
HOSTEX Statics:

• 5000+ visitors
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Participation charges:

• 9sqm built up stall: INR 300,000/-
• 6sqm built up stall: INR 200,000/-

 
We invite your esteemed participation as an exhibitor in Hostex and look forward to hearing from you.

Regards
Thomas James
Director Wegvoraus
Mob/WA: +91 7827202718
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Agriculture Technology and Agrochemical Expo in Ghana West Africa

• Agriculture contributes 20% of Ghanaian GDP – largest employing sector with 65% land area in agriculture, where less than 2% is irrigated.
• Ghana is becoming the center of Business and Agriculture transformation in the West Africa region emerging as a trading, manufacturing & manufacturing hub.
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• Targeted double digit growth in crop production like maize (30%); rice (49%); soybean (25%); and sorghum (28%) from current levels & create 75,000 new jobs, directly and indirectly.
• Very low mechanization in agriculture & food processing along with less than 2% irrigated land area dedicated for agriculture and shortage in storage facilities are key need areas to be focused.
• With a favorable climate for partnership and investment & smooth trade ties, it's advantageous to establish technology / trade partnership in Ghana  & West Africa.

• Annually over 10,000+ tractors and associated Agri implements & parts required in Ghana, making it 14% shareholder in Ghanaian Agritech import volume
• Irrigation setups including pipes, pumps motors  is the 5th in the row, where only 2% of agricultural land is irrigated.
• Crop care & protection among the top imported products in Ghana’s Agritech sector, followed by levelers, scrapers, mechanical shovels which are second in line with 15% share.
• Fertilizers, Spare parts and machine tools are other products in the top 10 complementing the Agritech requirement of Ghana with a sizable volume.

KEY FEATURE OF AGRITECH WEST AFRICA

 
We invite your esteemed participation in the expo and look forward to hearing from you.

Jump in venture-finance deals paves way for more food M&A – data

The value of venture-financing deals in packaged foods has tripled in two years, a trend set to accelerate as investors seek out entrepreneurial start-ups striving to tap into changing eating habits.

Health and environmental concerns are key drivers among investors and consumers, as especially younger shoppers seek more nutritious or environmentally-friendly food options.

Jeroen van den Heuvel, a London-based managing director at US investment bank Oppenheimer & Co., said, venture finance has become a force in investment in packaged-food companies, especially in plant-based foods.

The value of packaged-food deals involving venture capital rose to US$7.8bn last year from $5.2bn in 2020 – and more than treble the $2.2bn seen in 2019, according to figures compiled by GlobalData. The number of transactions increased to 552, compared to 378 in 2020 and 327 in 2019. GlobalData is the parent company of Just Food.

“I think that trend is definitely going to continue,” including both dedicated venture-capital funds and those operated by food companies, van den Heuvel said.

He added: “This is really caused by a global development – we are really still at the start but it is accelerating – a transition to a new and sustainable food system.

“A sustainable food system is critical to combat climate change and battling climate change has real momentum; it has political momentum, it has momentum with corporations. Alternative proteins and alternative agri-tech are the most well-known areas of investment into the sustainable food system.”

The largest venture-financing deals last year featured some notable players in food alternatives. Impossible Foods, the US meat-free business, raised $500m, while animal-free dairy start-up Perfect Day pocketed $350m.

NotCo, a plant-based meat and dairy supplier in Chile, bagged $350m, and Future Meat Technologies, a cultivated-protein start-up in Israel, secured $347m.

The knock-on effects of increasing venture capital in the wider food system will itself likely spur further M&A activity and, eventually, consolidation, van den Heuvel suggests.

“You have a venture-capital firm doing the first round and, after let’s say three years, another round. And then, after five or six years, it’s ready for private equity to do a first round and make the company larger, more international. And then maybe doing small add-ons,” he explained.

“And then, over time, it will go to another PE or an IPO or it will be sold to a corporate. A lot of corporates, the Unilevers and the Nestlés, will end up buying a lot of these start-ups when they are successful. But they are more risk-adverse than PE funds.”

In the corporate food universe, van den Heuvel said Covid-19 has pushed up valuations for food manufacturers selling into retail as lockdowns forced people to eat at home, but conversely, they “nosedived” in the foodservice sector.

Nevertheless, he added optimism some countries are moving from the pandemic phase of the Covid-19 virus to an endemic phase could see M&A activity could go off with a “bang” in the next quarter or so.

“2022 could really be a great year both in the number of deals and deal value,” van den Heuvel said, describing 2021 as “the year we learned to live with Covid-19”.

In meat substitutes, the value of deals more than tripled last year to $11bn, from $3.3bn in 2020. They were also up on the $3.5bn in 2019, according to GlobalData. The conventional meat sector was also very active in what van den Heuvel deems a “defensive” strategy. The value of deals in that category climbed to $52.5bn last year, compared to $42.4bn in 2020 and $29bn in 2019.

Van den Heuvel argued meat companies are having to increase competitiveness amid the growing prevalence of meat alternatives and, ultimately, consolidation.

That was an aspect in play last year, when Marfrig Global Foods upped its stake in Brazilian meat peer BRF. Another protein firm in Brazil was in on the act too, with JBS striking a deal for pork processor Rivalea in Australia, and another by taking full control of Pilgrim’s Pride in the US.

“If you have an offensive trend, that always creates a defensive trend. And it’s driven by large- and medium-sized meat companies to increase economies of scale. That way, they’re going to keep their profitability levels healthy in the future.

“That’s driven on the one hand by the trend to meat alternatives but, on the other hand, they also have to deal with rising input costs,” he explained.

Heuvel added: “The general public, they’ve become more and more aware and active in viewing meat as a major source of climate change and that’s going to impact demand for animal proteins and those things always drive consolidation trends.”

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