Giants of the food industry Nestle announced recently its purchase of vegan startup Sweet Earth, a company which specialises in frozen plant based products. The vegan brand was started by California-based husband and wife duo and has products in 10,000 stores across the US including in Whole Foods and Walmart.
Now, the huge Swiss company Nestle has taken over the vegan brand, in order to begin its journey into the rapidly growing plant based sector, but has said that the day-to-day running of Sweet Earth will remain under the control of the original owners.
“Nestle’s acquisition validates what forward-thinking consumers and retailers have been demanding for a while —more wholesome and sustainable choices. In the United States, we’re experiencing a consumer shift toward plant based proteins,” Paul Grimwood, CEO of Nestle in the US, said.
Sweet Earth is known for making frozen meals, burritos and plant based burgers. Kelly Swette, Sweet Earth’s CEO, explained: “Our products meet the demands of flavour-forward consumers who want more plant based foods, especially millennials who want convenient, real food and flexitarians who are looking to include more vegetables and plant based proteins in their diet. We have a drive to find the trend of authenticity in every one of our products.”
Nestle declined to comment on the cost of the deal.