Counting Beans: A Dozen Cousins Brings in Funding
Rice, beans and sauce brand A Dozen Cousins has raised new capital, with investors including Emil Capital Partners, RCV Frontline and CPG executive John Foraker taking part.
Details of the transaction, which was first revealed in a LinkedIn post by Emil Capital, have not been disclosed. However, A Dozen Cousins CEO and founder Ibraheem Basir later told NOSH this was the first close of a larger round.
The capital will be used for continued growth and expansion, both within existing retailers as well as new accounts as well as for new product development and pack sizes. In the first half of 2023 A Dozen Cousins expanded chain wide at Publix, added over 1,000 doors at Walmart and launched its sauces Whole Foods Market nationwide.
According to a post by Melissa Dolan, a director at Emil, the firm was particularly impressed by A Dozen Cousin’s “incredible” founder, Ibraheem Basir. Donan and Basir have a prior relationship, both held marketing roles at General Mills in 2015 and 2016, with Basir serving as Donlan’s mentor.
“CPG is a small world and a community that I have had the pleasure of participating in from a variety of perspectives — brand manager, investor, consumer,” Dolan wrote in her post. “Watching my fellow colleagues become founders, CEOs, CMOs, investors, parents and more constantly amazes me. People are the secret ingredient at the early stage and A Dozen Cousins is no exception.”
Basir’s time at Mills has led to prior investment as well. Both John Foraker, former President of Annie’s Homegrown, and Gail Peterson, a former General Mills marketing director, were early investors in the brand prior to its launch.
Having launched in 2018 with a line of Caribbean and Latin American pouched beans, A Dozen Cousins has since expanded into heat-and-eat rice pouches in 2021, followed by seasonings and sauces for rice and entrees in early 2022. Marketing efforts have included creating Black Panther branded limited edition sauces and joining The Clean Oil Crew, a group of food brands raising awareness of healthy fats.
Basir is also the founder of Project Potluck, a nonprofit working to help and build a community of People of Color (POC) in CPG. The company has also supported other nonprofits via its annual Social Impact Grant, which this year selected The Birthing People Foundation as the recipient of the award.
Emil Capital Partners current portfolio includes Base Culture, NextFoods, Kid Fresh, Nib Mor and Renewal Mill. Firm managing director Marcel Bens pulls double duty as the CEO of NextFoods (owners of Cheribundi and Good Belly) as well.
