Mother Raw Raises $6.1M to Support Growth in U.S. Market

Plant-based dressing and condiment maker Mother Raw announced today the closing of a $6.1 million funding round to fuel the Toronto-based brand’s U.S. distribution growth as well as new sales and marketing initiatives. The round was led by new investors Forage Capital Partners and Export Development Canada (EDC), with participation from existing investor Whitecap Venture Partners.

Mother Raw was launched by founder Michelle Kopman as RawFoodz in 2011 with a goal of developing a salad dressing that was as healthy as salad itself. In 2016 the brand was acquired by plant-based food company Reunion Foods (founded by members of the former executive team of Treehouse Foods-owned food manufacturer Protenergy Natural Foods). After Kopman unexpectedly passed away in 2018, current CEO Kristi Knowles, who previously held roles at Molson Coors and Campbell Soup Company, assumed leadership of the brand.

Over the last year, Knowles subsequently relaunched the company under the brand as Mother Raw and expanded the portfolio beyond refrigerated dressings into plant-based dips, queso and condiments.

Mother Raw impressed investors at Forage Capital Partners with the experience of its management team, she said, which includes TreeHouse Foods’ former VP of sales. The brand received investment from EDC through its new investment Matching Program, launched earlier this year to support the growth of small and mid-sized Canadian brands during the economic fallout of the pandemic, matching financing from venture capital and private equity investors. EDC also participated in keto brand Love Good Fats’ funding round announced last month.

“Mother Raw’s impressive growth is attributed to its focus on innovation and quality products that meet the demand of a growing industry,” Carl Burlock, EVP and Chief Business Officer at EDC, said in a press release. “[This funding] will enable the company to increase investment in business development and innovation efforts, helping it execute on its ambitious growth plans across North America.”

Mother Raw is currently available in approximately 3,700 retailers across North America, and is launching into 1,500 additional retailers including Meijer, Pavilions, Sprouts, Target, Walmart Canada and Whole Foods during the pandemic.

To capitalize on these new retailer partnerships, Mother Raw will also use its funding to drive trial among new consumers through loyalty and influencer programs, tapping into their advertising platforms and developing recipes with retailers’ private label products. Knowles said the brand currently has 20 employees, including its production team, and plans to expand its sales and marketing teams to support this shopper marketing strategy. Still, the small team size makes pairing with retailers’ larger teams an appealing strategy.

“It’s more efficient for us to work with the retailers on those programs than it is to go at it by ourselves,” Knowles said.

Amid the pandemic, Knowles said the brand has mostly been affected by the slower pace of launching into new retailers, but hasn’t faced any issues with its supply chain because it self-manufactures its product in Toronto. Knowles said the brand has also benefited from a boost in sales of organic produce, where Mother Raw’s products are often merchandised. As consumers have looked to comfort foods, the company has also realigned its marketing messaging to emphasize the “indulgent” nature of some of its products, such as its plant-based queso.

Mother Raw will also use the funding to expand R&D efforts for new product innovations, and Knowles said the brand will go deeper with its current categories, particularly its increasingly popular dips. The brand may also possibly extend beyond the refrigerated section and into other areas of the store, Knowles said, but will always meet the brand’s “mandates” for products with future launches, such as minimal processing.

“We created this brand with a very large mission, which is simply to encourage more people to eat more plants,” Knowles said. “So you can imagine that we could move into several categories with that as our mission and that’s kind of how we’re building out our innovation plans is to look into other growth categories and where Mother Raw can bring that mission to bear.”