The Very Good Company (VERY.C) closed their acquisition of Victoria-based artisanal vegan cheese producer, The Cultured Nut, earlier this week, according to a press release.

We originally wrote about this deal last month when they signed the LOI they’re completing today. The Cultured Nut sells block style cheeses, cream cheese and plant-based butter, and has more products in development. VERY intends to rebrand Cultured Nut’s product line The Very Good Cheese Company, and intends to launch it in Q2, 2021, through VERY’s ecommerce and wholesale distribution pipeline.

“The acquisition of Cultured Nut allows VERY to efficiently enter into the dairy alternatives space. This is a significant milestone in the realization of our long-term strategy of owning several brands under the banner of the Very Good Food Company in all major food categories providing consumers fun, innovative and healthier plant-based alternatives to everyday animal-based products,” said Mitchell Scott, CEO.

The Very Good Food Company is a plant-based food technology company focused in making progressive, plant-based meat and other food products that are nutritious without sacrificing enjoyment or taste. They have one core product line in operation called The Very Good Butchers brand.

Culture Nut has sales distribution deals in several online and grocery retailers, including Whole Foods. Their products on average go for around $4 per unit and VERY intends to scale their production to over 100,000 units per months in 2021, and ramp it up again in 2022.

The market surrounding vegan cheeses and other dairy alternatives market, including the plant-base and vegan sector, is expected to develop at at compound annual growth rate of 11.2% from 2020 to 2027, and reach USD$44.9 billion.

The Very Good Company is down $0.30 today, trading at $5.95.

—Joseph Morton