Plant-based investor Ahimsa Companies eyes more deals

US plant-based investor Ahimsa Companies is in talks with a clutch of brands to add to its portfolio.

Ahimsa Companies is a collection of investors formed in the US to back and grow plant-based food businesses operating in the country.

The investors’ first deal, announced early June, was to buy Wicked Kitchen, a brand of plant-based convenience foods and meals selling in the US and the UK.

Matt Tullman, one of Ahimsa Companies’ investors and its CEO, said the investor is weighing up half a dozen brands, all based and selling in the US.

Demand for plant-based products, particularly in meat alternatives, has eased in a number of markets, not least in the US and the UK, two countries seen as being at the forefront of the development of the sector in recent years.

The pressures facing suppliers have led to a number of businesses going to the wall on both sides of the Atlantic and to deals that have seen distressed assets bought out of administration.

Ahimsa Companies has also acquired a manufacturing facility in Ohio making plant-based products.

The site is manufacturing for unnamed clients on a private-label business and will take on some of Wicked Kitchen’s production, Tullman said.

Just Food