Fody Foods Lands New Investment, Chairperson
In anticipation of future growth in both natural and mass retail channels, Montreal-based Fody Foods closed a series B equity investment round last week and appointed a new board chairperson.
Fody Foods president and CEO Steven Singer declined to specify the amount of the investment, but characterized it as “significant” capital that will help support the brand’s continued distribution growth, including a new partnership launching next month in over 2,000 Walmart stores.
The company also used the announcement today to reveal Joel Warady as the new chairperson of the board Warady brings experience in the food sensitivity space leading allergen- and gluten-free brand Enjoy Life Foods for over 18 years and his current role as president of keto-friendly brand Catalina Crunch.
Singer and Warady know each other from previous stints in the snack business, the former at Glutino and the latter at Enjoy Life.
The investment round was led by existing investor Jonathan Ross Goodman, chairman of Knight Therapeutics and an ex- Paladin Labs executive, with previous equity holders Clover Vitality, District Ventures, New Acres and EDC adding to the round. Canadian real estate mogul Jonathan Wener and Medicom Group founder Ronald Reuben joined the round as new investors.
The company most recently raised $6.6 million in late 2020.
Founded as a low-FODMAP sauce and condiment maker, Fody Foods has evolved its marketing to meet a broader swathe of consumers seeking gut-friendly products geared towards consumers who suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).
Brands based around special dietary needs and eating trends can sometimes struggle to find mass appeal, but there has been a slow-build of food brands leaning into ingredients and marketing campaigns that promote easier to digest and low-FODMAP products.
Although it has branched out into snacks with on-the-go nutritional bars and low-FODMAP chips (launched in early 2021), Fody Foods maintains that it “is not a snack brand at all,” Singer said. “We’re highly focused on the sauces, pasta sauce and ketchup. That’s really our bread-and-butter.”
The brand has adapted its labeling and messaging around the idea of being a “sensitive recipe” food maker where it has tracked increased web searches for “sensitive food” products as well as other brands moving into the subcategory.
The company has made distribution gains in the natural channel with deals in place with retail chains Sprouts and Whole Foods but is “always looking for new opportunities” and sees the upcoming Walmart distribution deal carrying Fody Foods three salsa varieties (Walmart already carries the brand’s ketchup) as where the company can really make its mark, Singer said.
“At the end of the day, these bigger retailers are understanding that there are millions of people that are walking through a Walmart or a Wegmans, a Meijer or a Kroger that are looking for some sort of sensitive formula sauce,” he said.
