Jack & Annie’s Producer Raises $23M Following New Brand Launch

Alt-meat producer Global Village Fruit, producer of the Jack & Annie’s brand, formally announced today a $23 million funding round that closed this summer.

The round was led by Creadev and Desert Bloom with participation from Wheatsheaf and existing investors BetaAngels and InvestEco. Speaking today, founder and CEO Annie Ryu said the company held off on announcing the round until it had more concrete data about the performance of its second consumer brand, Jack and Annie’s, launched late last year. The 10 year-old company declined to provide details of its prior fundraising efforts, though SEC filings show the company raised roughly $1.46 million in 2015 and about $5 million in 2020.

“We are excited that our investors are partnering with us to create the next generation of plant-based – real foods, from a real plant,” Ryu said. “They are experienced, connected investors who share our vision and values – to transform the global food system for the good of people and [the] planet.”

The addition of Jack & Annie’s adds a third business division for Boulder-based Global Village Fruit, complementing its existing consumer brand, The Jackfruit Company, and its wholly owned subsidiary in India that sources jackfruit from a network of family farms.

Its creation also provides a different positioning for the Global Village Fruit: According to the company, consumers didn’t always know what jackfruit was or assumed it would require more preparation. Jack and Annie’s, however, offers mostly frozen convenience foods, such as nuggets, meatballs and sausages, Ryu said, and is focused on making mealtime easier. Currently The Jackfruit Company is sold in about 6,200 stores while Jack and Annie’s is in 1,500 stores including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Meijer, Wegmans, Hannaford, Target, and Giant.

“We’ve been able to build a huge following and fan base for jackfruit. But there’s also a huge amount of interest in plant-based meat that is beyond the levels of awareness of jackfruit,” Ryu said. “We wanted to make sure that we were able to reach those consumers with the delicious real food that jackfruit can create, but in a way that was really approachable and not in a way where it feels like you have to know what jackfruit is in order to try the foods.”

According to SPINS data provided by the brand, Jack and Annie’s is currently the third largest frozen brand in the entire plant-based category and the top selling nugget in the natural channel.

Ryu said the capital will largely go towards R&D and driving distribution of Jack and Annie’s, though the company will continue to sell The Jackfruit Company into retail. The company also will continue to assist other brands with their own R&D projects or sourcing jackfruit, and does a small amount of private label.

“The Jackfruit Company covers the vegans of vegetarians and Jack & Annie’s is more so for your flexitarian meat reducers,” Ryu said. “I think across [both brands] you’ve really covered the spectrum of consumers [looking] for these types of foods.”