An investment company has taken a majority stake in an East Midlands plant-based food specialist, with plans to drive scale and growth. Flywheel Partners has made the investment into Freshcut, partnering with the company’s management team which have significantly increased their stake in the business.
Freshcut, which is based in Nottingham, has built a reputation for turning vegetables and other carbohydrate-based foods into “exciting, flavoursome and healthy” products for its 40-plus customers – allowing those clients to outsource complexity in their supply chains.
The business supplies more than 300 bespoke products to some of the Ƶ’s top foodservice brands, manufacturers and online recipe kit providers. It was established in 2003 and employs more than 320 people.
Latest accounts for Freshcut Foods Limited, up to July 2022, showed turnover was up £10 million at £35.4 million and pre-tax profits of £710,000 – compared to a loss of £1.4 million a year before.
Freshcut chief executive Chris Copestake said: “We are hugely excited to be partnering with Flywheel in the next stage of our growth journey, as we continue to provide customers with natural plant-based food solutions through industry-leading innovation.
“Flywheel Partners’ experience in the food sector, their entrepreneurial spirit and strong cultural fit makes them the perfect partner to help drive our development over the years ahead.”
Flywheel managing partner Avital Lobel said: “Freshcut Foods is a hugely exciting business with great potential for future growth.
“The Freshcut team are industry leaders with whom we share a common set of values and vision for the business.
“The growth that Freshcut has delivered in recent years is testament to the quality and relevance of its products to today’s foodservice and food manufacturing businesses and consumers.
“We expect the ever-growing awareness of the health, cost and environmental benefits of plant-based foods to continue driving future growth. We really look forward to partnering with Chris and the team at Freshcut.”
The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
In recent years Freshcut has benefitted from the rise in ‘flexitarianism’ – where consumers are incorporating more vegetables and other plant-based products into their diets for health, sustainability and financial reasons.
