Patagonia Provisions Acquires Moonshot Snacks
Climate neutral cracker brand Moonshot Snacks has been acquired by Patagonia Provisions, the food and beverage division of outdoor-centric brand Patagonia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The news marks Patagonia’s first acquisition in over twenty years.
“Moonshot has achieved impressive growth by producing and selling delicious and nutritious crackers with a materially improved carbon footprint compared to industry standard practices,” said Paul Lightfoot, general manager of Patagonia Provisions, in a press release. “Moonshot’s values and mission are strongly aligned with Patagonia Provisions, which made it easy to warmly welcome their people onto our team.”
Moonshot, a BIPOC, women-owned and operated company, was launched in 2020 by Julia Collins, co-founder of tech-enabled pizza company Zume Pizza. The brand makes a three-SKU line of regeneratively grown wheat crackers in Margherita Pizza, Sourdough Sea Salt and Rosemary Garlic flavors.
Collins is also the CEO of Moonshot parent company, Planet FWD, which currently serves as a climate management system for CPG companies.
Last week, Planet FWD broke news of its own, announcing a partnership with certification and labeling program Climate Neutral. The new venture will give brands the ability to analyze, measure, reduce and then earn a certification label for use on products with their carbon emission output, all under one organization, according to a press release.
Planet FWD raised $10 million last May to bring the platform out of pilot mode and expand its partnership capabilities. Currently, Planet FWD brands include meal delivery service Blue Apron, wellness platform and bar maker Pangaia, and upcycled bakery brand Renewal Mill, among others. According to a press release, Planet FWD and Climate Neutral brand partners will have access to both entities’ capabilities in order to “accelerate the organizations’ aligned missions.”
As for Moonshot, mission alignment was also a key factor driving its acquisition by Patagonia Provisions. The food and beverage company sells lines of regeneratively-grown and sustainably-sourced products including tinned fish, pasta, soup starters and dried fruit snacks. It also sells other mission-aligned CPG food products on its direct-to-consumer platform including items from Barnacle Foods, Philosopher Foods and Sol Simple.
In September, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard “gave away” the outdoor apparel brand and associated entities, placing the corporation’s profits in the hands of a specially-designed trust as well as a nonprofit organization. These entities will receive all of Patagonia’s profits and deploy the cash toward fighting climate change and protecting undeveloped land around the world.
“I founded Moonshot with the vision of using the power of food to help tackle climate change,” said Collins in a press release. “By joining Patagonia Provisions, who recently made Earth their only shareholder, Moonshot now belongs to the planet.”
Lightfoot, who joined Patagonia Provisions as general manager last May, is also the founder of indoor hydroponic farming platform BrightFarms where he served as CEO from its start in 2010 through 2021. He is also on the board of directors for the Regenerative Organic Alliances, a regenerative agriculture certification platform, and has also served as the chairman of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee
Moonshot products’ environmental impact goes beyond regenerative agriculture as well. The crackers’ entire supply chain is operated within a 100 mile radius including the wheat farmers, millers and manufacturers. Moonshot crackers are currently sold in over 3,500 retailers including Sprouts Farmers Market, Whole Foods, Wegmans, Central Market, The Fresh Market and Foxtrot, among others.
