Splendid Spoon Raises $12M to Expand D2C Model

Direct-to-consumer plant-based meal delivery service Splendid Spoon announced today that it raised an additional $12 million to expand its offerings and reach more consumers.

“Our goal is to help the consumer take health into their own hands,” Nicole Centeno, founder and co-CEO, said. “Mission alignment is the biggest non-negotiable for us, and we’re thrilled that all of our investors are committed to a more plant-based future for the health of people and the planet.”

The round was led by investment firm Nicoya with Danone Manifesto Ventures, previous investor Torch Capital, Tasty Bite co-founders Ashok and Meera Vasudevan, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and Rent the Runway co-founder Jennifer Fleiss also taking part. The brand declined to comment on the total capital raised since inception, but an SEC filing lists a $3.26 million dollar investment in 2017.

Centeno founded Splendid Spoon in 2013, taking her homemade soups and beverages to New York farmers’ markets. A move into retail via Fresh Direct followed later in the year and co-CEO Elise Densborn joined in 2018. Though the brand still sells via Fresh Direct, its primary focus is on direct-to-consumer sales on its own e-commerce platform. The brand’s 50 offerings include HPP juices, smoothies and shots as well as grain bowls, soups and noodle bowls.

The company has been “capital efficient,” Densborn said, generating $15 for every dollar invested. Since inception, Splendid Spoon has served over 210,000 customers and made 11.5M meals in total, she said.

This round of funding will go towards building out the customer website experience as well as expanding product categories through partnerships. One example: Customers had been asking for more dessert-like products, so Splendid Spoon briefly tested selling Urban Remedy’s bars and baked goods.

Partnerships are a strategy because Splendid Spoon works with co-packers, which requires less manufacturing investment, but also can slow product development. Centeno said the company is wary of adding too many new items and does not plan to move beyond HPP and freezing for its preservation methods.

Splendid Spoon will focus on driving trial in the new year., Densborn said. Last year the company expanded beyond its original subscription model to offer shoppers one-off “on demand” boxes. Customers can’t fully customize their box, with options including 10 meals or a 15 pack of smoothies, but they can select which flavor products they receive as a one time shipment. While this option was originally launched as a way for existing customers to stock up during the pandemic, Centeno said, it’s also driven trial by removing the subscription commitment as a point of friction.

To reach new consumers other D2C meal brands have launched tasting rooms, products in grocery, or started selling on delivery services such as Uber or Instacart. When asked if Splendid Spoon was considering similar options, Densborn and Centeno said it is something they are working on.

“Our goal is to help the consumer take health into their own hands,” Centeno said. “We’ll be building our product set to meet our customers where they are: creating more flexibility with our digital experience, developing additional categories, and identifying opportunities for trial outside of D2C.”

The pace of competition has increased recently: in the past year alone Daily Harvest raised $77 million at a valuation of $1.1 billion, Nestle’s Freshly meal service launched a plant-based line, and most recently, dried fruit and vegetable brand Kenko launched instant bowls.

Against that competition, Splendid Spoon will market through inclusion. The company tries to feature images depicting all ages, races and body sizes in marketing campaigns, focusing on positive encouragement instead of chiding. The price point for Splendid Spoon may mean its products are still too expensive for some shoppers, the duo admit, but they hope that as the customer base grows they will be able to lower prices.

“Plant-based for health is almost completely overlooked as a category,” Centeno said, “We are food first – creating comforting, vibrant flavors that consumers crave is our recipe for habit creation.”