Vancouver, British Columbia, February 24, 2021 – The Very Good Food Company Inc. (CSE: VERY) (OTCQB: VRYYF) (FSE: 0SI) (“VERY” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of The Cultured Nut Inc., a highly popular artisan vegan cheese producer on the West Coast of Canada (“Cultured Nut”), with current sales distribution in several online and grocery retailers including select Whole Foods stores.
Cultured Nut is a plant-based cheese company with multiple innovative products in the market including block-style cheeses, cream cheese, and a plant-based butter, along with numerous products in development. VERY intends to rebrand Cultured Nut’s product line under a new brand called The Very Good Cheese Company which is expected to launch in Q2 2021 through VERY’s eCommerce and wholesale distribution networks.
Cultured Nut’s products current average wholesale price is $4.00 per unit and VERY intends to scale Cultured Nut’s existing production facility to over 100,000 units per month in 2021 with plans to scale production further in 2022. To ensure a successful business integration, the founders of The Cultured Nut and certain other key employees have entered into employment agreements with VERY and the transaction structure includes conditional payments based on the achievement of production and product innovation milestones.
The dairy alternatives market, including the plant-based and vegan sector, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.2% from 2020 to 2027 to reach US$44.9 billion by 2027. With the entire plant-based food industry growing at a rapid pace, the acquisition of the Cultured Nut is very timely and is an excellent complement to the Company’s existing product categories.
Mitchell Scott, CEO, commented: “The acquisition of Cultured Nut allows VERY to efficiently enter into the dairy alternatives space. This is a significant milestone in the realization of our long-term strategy of owning several brands under the banner of the Very Good Food Company in all major food categories providing consumers fun, innovative and healthier plant-based alternatives to everyday animal-based products.”
VERY completed the acquisition pursuant to a share purchase agreement with the shareholders of Cultured Nut for an aggregate purchase price of C$3,000,000; comprised of an equity payment of C$1,000,000 consisting of 139,676 VERY common shares at a deemed price of approximately C$7.15 per share and a cash portion of C$2,000,000 of which C$1,000,000 is contingent on the successful achievement of certain milestones related to the integration of the Cultured Nut’s business over a 12 month period and C$75,000 will serve as a holdback for indemnity purposes until August 31, 2021.
Products under the brand The Very Good Butchers currently sell in Canadian grocery stores and via eCommerce throughout North America.
About The Very Good Food CompanyThe Very Good Food Company Inc. is an emerging plant-based food technology company. Its mission is to use progressive food technology to create plant-based meat and other food products that are delicious while maintaining a wholesome nutritional profile. For more information visit http://www.verygoodbutchers.com/.
