Noops Raises $2M to Expand Distribution & Launch ‘Breakfast Pudding’

Better-for-you pudding producer Noops announced last week it closed an additional $2 million in funding earlier this month. Led by Lerer Hippeau, in addition to Siddhi Capital, Idea Farm Ventures, Simple Food Ventures, Animal Capital and Alan Mitzner, the raise follows the brand’s $2 million round last year and subsequent $1 million raise earlier this year.

Along with the investment, the company also announced that former CEO of The Fresh Market Larry Appeal and CEO of Hungryroot Benjamin McKean will join Noops’ advisory board.

What is Noops?

Noops sells a better-for-you take on the pudding cup, offering Caramel, Chocolate, Mocha and Vanilla oat-milk puddings that contain prebiotics, 5 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber and no added sugar. The pudding line is currently available in 4.75 oz cups and sold in 8-count, 16-count and 24-count single-flavor and variety packs at an MSRP of $2.99 a cup.

The brand was founded in 2019 by Hungryroot co-founder Gregory Struck’s struggle with an array of health complications, which ultimately led him to transition to a plant-based lifestyle. Struck previously told NOSH in 2020 that Noops’ creation was driven in part by his own frustration with existing plant-based yogurt alternatives and the understanding that “no one is going to stop eating indulgent products.” Pudding, Struck said, is simply the entry point for Noops to become “a platform for plant-based disruption.”

“We want to fuse the idea of having a snackable indulgence with something you don’t have to feel guilty about eating,” Struck said in a press release. “We’re seeing people snacking on Noops in the morning, afternoon, and evening because of its nutritional parity with yogurt; not only replacing unhealthier pudding products but integrating pudding into their diets in entirely new ways – like for breakfast.”

Since its launch last year, Noops’ has also been reformulated to make the puddings “cleaner” by removing gellan gum. The line will also begin utilizing a new proprietary process in the coming months that will give the pudding a creamier texture, according to Struck.

Where will Noops grow?

The company has made significant distribution gains over the past year, and is now sold in over 750 doors nationwide including Sprouts Farmers Market and Wegmans. With this additional capital, the brand will continue to increase its retail presence through an upcoming launch at Fresh Thyme Market and will pursue other channels beyond natural such as foodservice.

The investment will also support increasing the company’s headcount, adding team members to finance and sales teams, in particular. On the production front, the capital has allowed Noops to add a second manufacturing partner, which will triple its production capacity.

Noops also plans to expand its core lineup with new product lines and formats varieties including a breakfast pudding that can compete more directly with yogurt, an oat milk-based rice pudding, squeeze tubes for children and large format tubs, according to a press release.

What is going on in the space?

The market for plant-based food is expected to reach a $162 billion valuation within the next decade, according to a recent report from Bloomberg Intelligence, so it is no wonder that companies like Noops have entered the space with the goal of taking on legacy brands such as Jell-O and Kraft Heinz which have dominated the category with conventional products for decades.

“It’s a simple litmus test of what categories lack innovation that could be disrupted with plant-based, better-for-you products and use the brand equity that we’ve created in Noops to drive further innovation in those subsets,” Struck previously told NOSH.

In comparison to the plant-based liquid dairy market, the better-for-you chilled dessert space is still gaining its footing. However, Noops will face competition from major players who have already established themselves in the market such as Swedish alternative dairy brand Oatly which produces oat milk-based products across the liquid, frozen and chilled segments.

What may differentiate Noops among the competitors however, is its pairing of plant-based ingredients with a no-to-low sugar positioning. The products are sweetened with dates and monk syrup, for roughly 9 grams of sugar per serving, depending on the flavor. Oatly’s yogurt line contains 11 grams of sugar which is primarily derived from its production process, which uses enzymes to break down the oat starch into simple sugars such as maltose.

Struck previously told NOSH that he doesn’t see competition in the category as a limitation for the brand, but rather a driving force for continued innovation: “For me, I’ve never been afraid of competition, other big companies that give relevance to the category are more than welcome.”