News Roundup: Kainos Capital Raises $1B Fund; Nestle Aims To Grow Plant-based Menus On College Campuses

Kainos Capital Raises $1 Billion For Third Change Capital Fund

Private equity firm Kainos Capital announced the closing of its third fund this week, dubbed Fund III, and largest raise to-date, totaling over $1 billion in capital commitments. Both new and existing limited partners are part of fund III.

Kainos invests in the food and consumer products and services sectors and Fund III will seek to invest in family-owned businesses as well as “corporate carve-outs” in the food space that have at least $10 million in EBITDA. According to a press release, the fund can invest up to $300 million in equity, with the potential to flex that amount upwards via its limited partner co-investment program.

“Our bench of seasoned investors and operators within the food and consumer sectors helps drive financial and operational performance by working hand-in-glove with management teams,” said Andrew Rosen, Managing Partner of Kainos. “We believe Kainos’ sector experience, industry relationships, and robust operating capabilities make us an attractive partner to families and entrepreneurs who are excited about their business’ prospects yet seek to diversify their wealth.”

About one-third of Fund II is currently invested across three companies: dietary supplement company CellCore Biosciences, specialty dairy cow health distributor Specialty Sales and retail merchandising firm Evriholder Products.

Kainos existing and previous food industry portfolio companies include health and wellness platform Wellful, Whisps, Kettle Cuisine, Olde Thompson, Ferraro Foods, good2grow and SlimFast, among others.

Nestlé Teams Up With Wholesome Crave, UMass Dining To Promote Plant-Based Food On College Campuses

Nestlé Professional, Wholesome Crave and The University of Massachusetts Dining Program (UMass Dining) teamed up to launch a partnership program that offers college and university dining programs turn-key tips and recipes to introduce plant-based alternatives into campus menus.

For 2023 12 universities across North America have joined the program, which Nestle refers to as an “incubator,” including Kent State, Vanderbilt, Montreal’s Concordia University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Wholesome Crave founder, Chef Michel Nischan, developed the program alongside the culinary team at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Dining facilities who take part in the program receive assistance in how to incorporate more plant-based alternatives and develop new plant-based menu items. Initial recipe offerings will feature products from Wholesome Crave and Nestlé-owned Sweet Earth brand including Tres Hermanas Enchiladas made with Sweet Earth Mindful Chik’n, Minor’s Vegan Alfredo and Wholesome Crave Native Three Sisters Soup, a Sweet Earth Breakfast Sausage Patty Sandwich, and a Bucatini Bolognese made with Sweet Earth Awesome Grounds and Wholesome Crave Tomato Basil Soup.

According to a press release, the program was developed in response to requests from campus foodservice operators for more “globally inspired, flavor-driven, plant-forward options.”

ADM Faces Labor Union Challenges, Prompted By Workers Strike

Food processing and ingredient company Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is facing charges of Unfair Labor Practices by the Teamster Local 916 Union, alleging the conglomerate has repeatedly failed to send appropriate and authorized individuals to negotiations with union representatives.

The charges come nearly a week after employees went on strike at ADM’s Decatur, Ill. facility after negotiators were unable to agree to union members requests for a 12% raise over the course of three years. The union also alleges that ADM offered individual employees workers benefits in exchange for not going on strike which the union considers a bribe.

“This isn’t just about one group of workers, it’s about setting a standard at ADM,” said Kyle Bollinger, Local 916 Business Agent and ADM Bargaining Committee Chairman, in a press release. “Everyone at this company, whether they’re a Teamster or not, needs to join in solidarity and demand a better life. That’s the only way ADM workers – not just shareholders or the C-Suite – can benefit from the immense revenue that this company generates.”

The union and ADM are actively negotiating in order to end the strike.

“ADM looks forward to continued negotiation to come to a satisfactory resolution,” said an ADM spokesperson in a statement to NOSH. “We have offered an extremely competitive proposal to union membership at our cogeneration facility in Decatur and continue to negotiate in good faith with the union, which represents fewer than 50 of our nearly 5,000 colleagues in Decatur. We have a robust plan in place to maintain production levels until we can reach a satisfactory resolution.”

Motif Foodworks Now Offering For-Hire Bioprocessing Capabilities

Boston-based food tech company Motif Foodworks expanded its business beyond ingredient development and innovation this week to now offer fermentation and bioprocessing services to clients. The announcement comes only two months after the company opened its new 65,000 sq. ft. R&D and ingredient production facility.

The company, which recently commercialized its yeast-based heme protein HEMAMI for use in plant-based proteins, said in a press release that it saw an opportunity to leverage its knowledge and capabilities to help other start-ups scale up their innovations. Motif currently operates as a B2B plant-based protein ingredient supplier.

“We are thrilled to be able to utilize our experience and offer help to companies that are in a similar position that we were in a few years back,” said Philippe Prochasson, Motif’s VP of biosciences and analytics, in a press release. “By using our holistic innovation process, we are able to help companies rapidly develop and commercialize their technologies.”