PlantPlus Foods to Acquire Sol Cuisine and Hilary’s

PlantPlus Foods, a joint venture launched by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Brazilian beef processor Marfrig last year, announced last week it has entered into agreements to acquire two plant-based protein companies: Sol Cuisine and DEW Drink Eat Well, owner of Hilary’s.

The Sol Cuisine deal, coming just six months after the company went public on the TSX Venture Exchange, is valued at C$124.4 million (just under $100 million) and is set to close in the first quarter of 2022. Terms of the Hilary’s deal were not disclosed.

The acquisitions will enhance PlantPlus Foods’ North American operations “to accelerate plant-based protein category growth in whitespaces and new plant-forward finished goods solutions,” the company said in a press release. Sol Cuisine and Hilary’s are PlantPlus Foods’ first acquisitions and will mark its entrance into North America, currently marketing a line of PlantPlus Foods-branded products in Brazil.

Marfrig and ADM joined forces to launch Chicago-based PlantPlus Foods in October 2020 to offer plant-based foods across North and South America, with Marfrig owning 70% and ADM 30%. Marfrig offers brands production and distribution capabilities with its facilities in South America and the U.S., with ADM supplying technical expertise, application development and plant-based ingredients and flavors, according to a press release.

Founded in 1980 as a manufacturer of tofu for foodservice, Canada-based Sol Cuisine has since evolved to manufacture both branded and private label plant-based protein products sold across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico in over 11,000 retailers, including Albertsons/Safeway, National Co+op Grocers and Costco in the U.S. Meanwhile, Kansas-based Hilary’s, which launched in 2005, markets a portfolio of allergy-friendly plant-based foods sold in the U.S. and Canada at retailers like Whole Foods, Safeway, Sprouts and Wegmans. It has raised about $4 million to date from investors like VG Growth Partners.

Sol Cuisine’s acquisition comes after the company went public on the TSX Venture Exchange in late May, which Sol Cuisine CEO John Flanagan told NOSH in March was slated to bring about $30 million to $34 million of capital into the company. The company had previously raised $30 million from investors including Business Development Bank of Canada, Export Development Canada, New Acres and InvestEco. Flanagan said at the time the company chose to go public to raise capital and drive marketing buzz.

Speaking to NOSH today, Sol Cuisine president and founder Dror Balshine said the offer from PlantPlus was “unsolicited,” as the company wasn’t seeking to sell after going public just a few months prior. However, PlantPlus Foods offered them a “great opportunity to get to where we want to go a lot faster,” he said. Sol Cuisine already had a relationship with ADM, which serves as the company’s largest supplier, Balshine said.

“We had a plan to continue to grow our business, and we were growing very nicely, and we were approached by PlantPlus, and synergistically, it just seemed to make a lot of sense,” he said.

The PlantPlus Foods partnership will allow the company to grow distribution to South America, expand its R&D through ADM’s 27 global research institutions and access new plant-based ingredients, Balshine said. Still, upon approval of the sale, there will not be any major changes to the business in terms of management and production.

“We’ve built a great team, we’ve got great products, we feel like we’ve got a long runway here,” he said. “We’re really proud of what we’ve built. And this allows us to shout about it, be more of a global player, and expand our position in Canada and other markets.”

Despite the “COVID bounce” following elevated demand at the height of the pandemic, Balshine said the company is “still seeing really strong growth and demand.” In its most recent earnings call on August 30, it reported gross sales of C$6.1 million for the three months (up 1% year-over-year) ending June 30 and C$18.7 million over nine months, up 42.4%.

“Now with additional support, we’re confident we can be not only a leader in Canada and North America, but hopefully worldwide,” he said.

PlantPlus Foods and Hilary’s declined to comment on the deal when reached by NOSH.