Week in Review
Nothing too exciting to talk about this week with regards to my personal life or the plant-based sector as a whole. Some of this week’s most notable developments include KFC Thailand’s launch of vegan chicken items, Lil Yachty’s investment into PlantFuel Life Inc., and my crippling anxiety towards current world issues. Although I’m sure you’d love to hear about my anxiety, let’s talk about Lil Yachty, also known as Miles Park McCollum, an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. Call me a boomer if you’d like, because I don’t know the first thing about Lil Yachty or rap in general. Regardless, through Scoop Investments, Lil Yachty’s Venture Capital (VC) fund, the rapper made a strategic investment into PlantFuel’s emerging sports nutrition brand coming to market early this month. This marks Scoop Investments’ second investment, the first being a $1 million investment into the members-only, Jewish dating app ‘Lox Club’ in June 2021. As described by Scoop Investments, Lox Club is a dating app for “Jews with ridiculously high standards.” Hey, their words, not mine!
Whether Lil Yachty’s investment into PlantFuel will end up hurting or helping the company has yet to be decided. However, some of our favorite plant-based companies have made moves this week, including Plant & Co. Brands Ltd. (VEGN.C), Else Nutrition Holdings Inc. (BABY.V), Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd. (NSP.V). In this week’s plant-based sector review, we will also be talking about Modern Plant Based Foods Inc. (MEAT.C). a company that has been covered extensively on our site in the past. Let’s get into it!
Else Nutrition Holdings Inc.
- $268.679M Market Capitalization
Else Nutrition (BABY.V) is a food and nutrition company focused on developing clean, plant-based food and nutrition products for infants, toddlers, children, and adults. The Company is credited for its plant-based, non-soy, formula, intended to be a clean-ingredient alternative to dairy based formulas. In terms of recognition, Else Nutrition won the “2017 Best Health and Diet Solutions” award at the Global Food Innovation Summit in Milan. Additionally, the Company’s Plant-Based Complete Nutrition for Toddlers was recently ranked as the #1 top seller in the baby and toddler formula category on Amazon.
So, what has Else Nutrition been up to lately? On September 1, 2021, the Company announced that it will be expanding into Roche Bros. locations this month with its Plant-Based Complete Nutrition for Toddlers. Roche Bros. is a chain of supermarkets based in Mansfield, Massachusetts with most of its stores located in the Boston Metro Area. In addition to its own brand, Roche Bros. also operates the supermarket chain Sudbury Farms. In total, the Roche Bros. supermarket chain operates in 21 markets, with a 25,000 square foot flagship location at Boston’s Downtown Crossing. Else Nutrition’s expansion is expected to extend the Company’s brand reach within Massachusetts as its second Northeast listing while significantly boosting the Company’s strategic presence.
“Partnering with Roche Bros. is an exciting development for the Company…We’ve been looking to further strengthen our Northeast presence, and Roche Bros. is a great fit for us with premium-seeking, health-conscious customers,” said Hamutal Yitzhak, Co-Founder and CEO of Else Nutrition.
In addition to expanding into Roche Bros. locations, Else Nutrition announced on August 30, 2021, that it has received the Good Housekeeping’s Parenting Award for its Plant-Based Nutrition for Toddlers product. A panel composed of scientists, editors, and parents, evaluating hundreds of products impacting U.S. families and children, selected Else Nutrition’s product as the winner in the fan favorite category for Balanced Baby Nutrition. Keep in mind, Else Nutrition’s latest award carries some weight. Good Housekeeping has nearly 17 million readers through its print and digital editions, more than 12 million readers on its website and mobile devices, and over 3 million social media followers. With an already impressive list of accolades, the Company’s latest award only solidifies Else Nutrition’s position as an innovate plant-based nutrition company.
Plant & Co. Brands Ltd.
- $23.092M Market Capitalization
Plant & Co. (VEGN.C) is a modern health and wellness company curating plant-based foods. The Company offers a growing number of plant-based food products through its two, leading plant-based brands, Holy Crap Foods Inc. and YamChops, the vegan butcher. Plant & Co. believes the plant-based sector is poised for tremendous growth and, considering 27% of Canadians plan on switching to a plant-based lifestyle, this assumption isn’t wrong. Holy Crap Brand’s line of high-fiber, plant-based, gluten-free cereal first made its appearance ten years ago on Dragon’s Den. With this in mind, on February 12, 2021, Plant & Co. announced that it had completed the acquisition of Holy Crap.
“We have invested a lot of time and capital to bring Holy Crap Cereal brands from its humble beginnings in BC to becoming a national brand known to Canadian’s coast to coast available at over 600 locations. It’s great to see our investment paying such early rewards,” said Donna Reddy, President of Plant&Co.
Shortly after, the Company reported a 53% increase in monthly sales for April 2021 compared to February 2021. Not too shabby. More recently, on September 2, 2021, Plant & Co. announced that it has increased production at its Gibson, BC facility to fulfill orders from recently introduced Longo Brothers Fruit Markets (Longo’s), a privately-owned chain of retail supermarkets in Canada, and Highland Farms. Currently, there are 36 Longo’s locations throughout the greater Toronto and Hamilton areas in Ontario. With this in mind, Plant & Co.’s Holy Crap cereal will be available for purchase at all Longo’s locations.
If that wasn’t enough, the Company also released its Q2 2021 Financial Results on August 31, 2021, boasting some impressive numbers. In particular, Plant & Co.’s total revenue including product sales and consulting was $443,145 in Q2 2021, representing an outstanding 900% increase year-over-year. Comparative to Q1 2021, total revenue increased by 69% for the Company. However, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, the Company recorded a net loss of $21,782,319 and $25,872,749 respectively compared to a net loss of $240,101 and $1,457,593 year-over-year. Before you get your panties in a twist, 94% of Plant & Co.’s overall losses can be attributed to accounting adjustments associated with the acquisition of Holy Crap Brands and share based compensation related to the Company’s appointment of new board members, which is stacked by the way. There’s a lot more to Plant & Co. than meets the eye. With that being said, I highly encourage our readers to keep an eye out for a featured piece on the Company in the coming weeks!
Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd.
- $10.897M Market Capitalization
Naturally Splendid (NSP.V) is a plant-based foods company with various acquisition under its belt, including CHII Hemp Food., one of Canada’s original hemp food companies, and Prosnack Natural Foods, a nutritious bar producer located in BC, Canada, specializing in the production of plant-based protein bars. Who would have guessed? Furthermore, the Company is credited for leading the charge into South Korea, exporting more than 1.25 million pounds of hempseed in 2016. Furthermore, Naturally Splendid has established numerous healthy, functional foods under recognized brands such as Natera Sport™, Natera Hemp Foods, CHII, Elevate Me™, Woods Wild Bar™, and its most recent brand, Natera Plant Based Foods, a line of plant-based meat alternatives. In addition to its plant-based options, the Company, through its joint venture with Plasm Pharmaceuticals, has been approved by Health Canada to conduct a Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of COVID-19. Naturally Splendid is also credited for developing proprietary technologies for the extraction of healthy omega 3 and 6 oils from hemp.
“Naturally Splendid continues to focus on plant-based initiatives. Whether we are developing our NATERATM Plant Based Foods business, or manufacturing bars and bites formulated for the sports and active lifestyle market, advancing the science of CavaltinibTM, for a phase 2 clinical trial for a COVID treatment, or exporting bulk hemp to South Korea, one thing we can assure you is that plant-based is at the forefront of these activities,” commented Naturally Splendid’s Co-founder and CFO Mr. Bryan Carson.
In recent news, on August 31, 2021, Naturally Splendid announced its Q2 2021 Financial Results. Hey, I warned you that this week wasn’t the most exciting for the plant-based sector, but bear with me since the Company’s Q2 2021 financial results were actually quite spicy. In addition to signing a ten-year exclusive manufacturing and distribution agreement with Flexitarian Foods, Australia’s largest plant-based manufacturer, Naturally Splendid will also be launching some of its plant-based products at 71 Denny’s locations across Canada starting later this fall. Referring back to the Company’s financial results, Naturally Splendid reported an improved net loss of $1,750,988 for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $2,428,944 year-over-year. However, Naturally Splendid’s overall sales took quite the hit. In this same period, the Company recorded sales of $470,039 compared to $1,025,636 year-over-year. Naturally Splendid experienced reduced sales all-around. In particular, the Company’s bars and bites business, branded hemp products and other branded products experienced reduced sales. Overall, Naturally Splendid has a lot to offer but, between numerous brands and businesses, is it too much?
Modern Plant-Based Foods Inc.
- $73.732M Market Capitalization
Modern Plant-Based (MEAT.C) is a plant-based meant alternative company based in Vancouver, Canada. The Company’s top chefs have created a selection of healthy, gourmet vegan options crafted entirely from natural ingredients. Furthermore, Modern Plant-Based products are soy, gluten, nut and GMO-free in addition to being made with no artificial preservatives or additives. A company like this would have been great back when my brother was still struggling with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Sucks for him, am I right? Anyways, on August 25, 2021, the Company announced that its meat alternative brand, Modern Meat, has entered into a partnership with Real Vision Foods, a natural food manufacturer with the capability of producing and distributing significant volumes of Modern Meat proprietary plant-based bars and meals targeted towards high performance cognitive athletes.
“Currently in the market there are numerous food and supplement choices available for athletes involved in physical activities that promote muscle growth, recovery, and endurance. However, we’ve identified a gap in the market. We recognize that high performance cognitive athlete’s diet should be similar to that of other competitive athletes, yet they also require added nutrients, which will increase circulation in the brain. We are looking to address the need by developing high protein, nutritious plant-based bars and meals to provide these athletes and students with foods which will release energy quickly while still maintaining the glycemic level of the body,” explains Tara Haddad, Founder and CEO of Modern Plant-Based Foods.
Additionally, on September 2, 2021, Modern Plant-Based announced that it will begin the uplisting process of applying to the Nasdaq Stock market. Furthermore, Tara Haddad will be moving to the position of Founder and will be succeeded by Joni Berg as CEO. With this in mind, Ms. Haddad will continue working with the Company on key business development initiatives while Mrs. Berg will be responsible for day-to-day operations. Modern Plant-Based also announced that it has closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement offering of 840,337 units at a price of $1.19 per unit for gross proceeds of $1 million. The Company intends to use the proceeds raised from this offering for general working capital purposes, marketing, and investor relations activity.
Closing Thoughts
Like I said, nothing too interesting happened this week in the plant-based sector. Hopefully this week’s plant-based sector review didn’t put you to sleep, but if it did, be sure to drop some recommendations on our site or any of our social media platforms, including Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
