Climax Foods Rebrands As Bettani Farms, Raises $6.5M
Dairy alternative ingredient provider Climax Foods is moving into its next stage of growth, rebranding itself as Bettani Farms, while also appointing a seasoned industry executive as CEO and landing a $6.5 million investment.
Former Califia Farms CFO Sandeep Patel took over the chief executive role as Bettani Farms announced the initial closing of its $6.5 million Series A round, led by existing investor S2G Investments with participation from Gratitude Railroad, Toba Capital, MIH Capital Management, and At One Ventures.
S2G previously invested in Bettani on a $7.5 million seed round, which included participation from One Ventures and ARTIS Ventures, among many other VCs and angels.
“The Bettani Farms brand represents our transition from a company founded as a data science tech startup to a food brand leveraging the power of naturally grown, regenerative plants to commercialize game-changing products at scale,” Patel told Nosh in a written statement.
Founded in 2019, Bettani Farms produces a proprietary protein ingredient, CaSeed, made from field crop seeds and used in plant-based cheese products. CaSeed mimics the stretch, meltability and mouthfeel of dairy milk casein without the use of nuts, soy or fermentation processes.
The ingredient offers a creamy texture and neutral flavor profile that can be used in dairy-free alternatives to mozzarella, cheddar, feta, brie or blue cheeses.
The funding will support multiple elements of growth, including scaling production with manufacturing partners, B2B sales and marketing, and new hires across the business.
Filling out team roles at Bettani Farms are SVP of R&D Rajiv Dave, who previously held roles at Califia Farms, Nestlé and Great Lakes Cheese; SVP of Sales Tom Zilligen, former sales executive at plant-based cheese brand NUMU, Hero Bread and Pacific Foods; and former Ingredion and Meati operations manager Maxwell Brown (who is taking the role of process engineer).
Currently, Bettani Farms is focused on working with its existing network of dairy and plant-based cheese makers. The food tech outfit also provides finished cheeses to frozen pizza, entree and snack manufacturers
The company is planning to expand into foodservice, launching “branded cheeses directly with distributors and restaurants, with an initial focus on pizzerias, salad chains, Mexican restaurants and institutional foodservice partners,” Patel said.
Bettani is moving from the initial discovery and development phase, Patel said, and into the scaling and commercialization stage. Now at the company’s helm, Patel will be implementing some of the operational lessons he learned while overseeing Califia’s supply chain.
“I know from that experience how critical it is in food to pair superior products with a well-designed commercialization plan and collaboration with high-quality supply chain and distribution partners,” he said. “A great product alone isn’t enough; you need the planning, systems, and partners to scale it profitably.”
Bettani Farms is no stranger to partnerships. In April 2023, Bel Group partnered with the company (then Climax Foods) to help the multinational dairy processor co-create plant-based additions to its Laughing Cow, Boursin and Babybel cheese brands as well as its recently discontinued Nurishh brand.
