Base Culture Focuses In on “Clean & Simple” Product Platform

Base Culture is ready to accelerate the growth of its business, cleaning up classic favorites. The brand, which produces paleo-certified baked goods, breads and nut butters, announced last month the close of a round of funding led by previous investor Emil Capital Partners (ECP) and that the company would see a shift in executives, with a new CEO heading the company.

The exact amount of the round was not disclosed, but to-date, the brand has raised $12 million since its inception three and a half years ago. Founded by Jordann Windschauer, who previously also served as CEO, Base Culture is currently sold in roughly 12,000 stores, including Whole Foods, Kroger, Publix, and Albertson/Safeway.

Last month Windschauser also announced that she would be stepping down as CEO, with COO Heidi Krauss, who joined the business about 18 months ago, assuming the role of CEO.

Krauss, who was last CMO of yogurt brand Siggi’s, told NOSH she originally joined the company excited to work with a more early-stage brand and also focus more on the operations and supply chain side of a business. At Siggi’s, Krauss said, though her title was marketing oriented, she also oversaw R&D and worked closely with the operations and supply chain teams. Moving forward, Windschauser will focus more on product innovation and evangelism, though will not be involved in the company on a day-to-day basis.

“Jordan is still the soul of the brand, and part of my role now is to bring that dream to fruition… ultimately it’s about a partnership between myself and the founder, as well as the rest of our leadership team,” Krauss shared. “[My focus is on] driving the top line growth while, importantly, being mindful of our bottom line objectives as well.”

That growth will come from both adding new products to the portfolio to expand the use cases and dayparts that Base Culture targets, as well as getting more retailers to take on all three lines. For example, while the brand’s overall “baked goods” portfolio accounts for 70% of sales, its brownies and sweet breads are only in roughly half as many retailers as its sliced bread offerings — the latter, Krauss said, is the brand’s “growth engine.”

Though the sweet breads, sliced bread and brownies are sold frozen, Krauss said that hasn’t proved to be a burden; during the Covid-19 pandemic consumers have increased their shopping in the frozen aisle.

Ecommerce sales also grew 90% in 2020, Krauss said. The result of this growth has been a shift to “put more focus on the top items in retail,” she said, while still “better supporting” smaller items online. While the current plan is to keep all three lines in retail, certain flavors may become online-only offerings.

Because the brand self-manufactures, it has the ability to scale up or down production to support different sales strategies and items that perhaps turn less quickly, she added.

Though the brand is marketed as a paleo product, Krauss said most consumers are drawn to the line for its easy to understand ingredient lists and use of minimal processing. Paleo, she said, has come to simply indicate that a product is “very clean.” Leaning into this positioning can allow the brand to expand into other categories where there are sizable markets but Base Culture can offer a differentiated product.

“I see a tremendous amount of upside for us to take this really compelling benefit proposition of paleo, grain-free, gluten-free, as well as some keto options, and innovate as a way to access more occasions,” Krauss said. “Paleo itself isn’t always broadly understood but clean, simple ingredients are a very relevant benefit.”