Allplants, a vegan meal delivery service, has raised $52 million in Series B funding led by Draper Esprit. So now, more UK consumers can enjoy a plant-based heat-at-home meal delivered right to their doorsteps.
According to Draper Esprit, this Series B funding round broke a record for the most money ever raised by a plant-based food company in Europe. The funds raised will allow the company to expand to six times its current size. Additionally, they are planning on growing their operations, innovation, marketing and technology.
“This is an extremely exciting investment for Draper Esprit. Allplants is uniquely positioned at the intersection of some of the fastest-growing areas in food consumption today: high quality, plant-based meals that deliver on taste, sustainability and nutrition in an incredibly convenient way for consumers,” said Nicola McClafferty, a partner at Draper Esprit.
Allplants targets not only plant-based consumers but also those who are plant-curious and flexitarians. Since its launch in 2017, the company’s revenues have doubled every year.
“In the five years that we have been cooking, we’ve seen the demand for plant-based food explode. We’ve got a tonne of exciting plans to bring the movement to even more people’s kitchens, and this investment will allow us to do just that,” said Jonathan Petrides, founder and CEO of Allplants.
How Does Allplants Work?
First, the consumer begins by choosing their portion size from the available options, including options for one person with six servings or two persons with 12 servings.
The customer can then go ahead and choose their six meals from over 30 available options. In addition, the company allows the user to filter by “cooking method,” choosing between an oven or microwave, “spice levels,” or “made without” soy, nuts and gluten.
Some meal choices include a Protein Power Bowl, Teriyaki Udon, Three Mushroom Risotto and Tofu Pad Thai; that’s not even including their side dishes, breakfast, desserts, or smoothies.
A consumer can click on an available option and read more about its content and nutritional benefits. Once all meals are chosen and paid for via a flexible subscription service, the customer can choose a delivery date and time and enjoy the meal.
The plant-based meals are all hand-made 24 hours a day by 140 chefs in the company’s kitchens. They have the most extensive plant-based kitchen that runs on 100 percent renewable energy, and their meals are delivered across Great Britain. According to the company, more than 3.5 million meals have been eaten since 2017.
“Jonathon Petrides and the team have established a stellar brand with very clear values, incredibly strong growth and a loyal customer base. Allplants has real potential to scale its direct-to-consumer business while expanding into new channels both in the UK and beyond. We believe it can be a global brand, bringing nutrition, taste and convenience to the plant-curious consumer and we are delighted to be supporting the team as they grow and thrive,” said McClafferty.
Related: Related: Nestlé Acquires Meal Delivery Service Freshly for $950 Million
Meal kit delivery companies are popular and gained even more traction when the pandemic hit and people had more time to cook at home. Some of the top meal kit delivery companies include GoodFood, Home Chef and HelloFresh.
HelloFresh, for example, had over 1.3 million shoppers in the first few months during the COVID-19 lockdown. Meal kits allowed consumers to receive all the ingredients and recipes needed to make delicious and nutritious meals without leaving the household.
But this doesn’t end here; the market is expected to grow exponentially as food habits and lifestyles have changed and the trend is shifting toward more convenient meals. As a result, the global meal kit market is expected to reach $20 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 13.27 percent.
The larger companies offer consumers some plant-based options, but that’s is no longer enough with the rise in the popularity of the vegan diet. More recently, plant-based meal kit delivery companies have been sharing the spotlight. Some companies that cater towards this market segment, other than Allplants, include Sun Basket, Green Chef and Daily Harvest.
“Food choices are deeply personal, so quality and taste will always come first for us – it’s the driver of everything we do, and what makes it so easy for our customers to include more plants in their diets without the compromise. We can now imagine, create and serve up many more delicious recipes and products, to ultimately accelerate the transformative impact that plant-based living will have on the future of our planet,” Petrides said.
Besides scaling up and innovating within Allplants, the company is also looking at building scalable capacity for rapid distribution so that they can work towards getting their meal kits in supermarkets.
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