London-based startup THIS, which makes plant-based meat alternative products sold in supermarkets across the UK, has raised a £20m Series C round from impact investor Planet First Partners. The round was made up of a combination of primary and secondary equity financing.
The company hired a new CEO, Mark Cuddigan — formerly CEO of organic baby food brand Ella’s Kitchen — earlier this year, and says it will use the fresh capital to grow its product range in the UK.
Today, the company has also become the third manufacturer to recall one of its products from the shelves of retailer WH Smith in connection with a country-wide E.coli outbreak as a “precautionary step,” reports the BBC.
The problem with plant-based
Consumer interest in plant-based foods seems to have waned in recent years: in 2023, it was one of the fastest-falling grocery categories in terms of sales in the UK, dropping by 13.6% year-on-year.
Cuddigan told Sifted last month that the sector was “letting consumers down” in terms of taste and price — but that he believes that THIS is bucking the trend.
“There are a lot of people who would declare themselves as flexitarians but aren't transitioning away from eating meat, and the reason why is because I feel they're let down by the taste and the quality when they try plant-based meat, and they go back. So you're sort of knocking on an open door,” he said.
The startup saw its product presence per store go up by 42% last year, was named in the Sifted 100 list of fastest-growing companies by revenue in the UK and Ireland and is aiming to have its first profitable quarter by the end of 2024.
“We have transformed our margin,” said Cuddigan — “but we need to go much further to become a sustainable business.”
It’s currently the fourth largest brand in the UK’s plant-based category, with almost 8% of the chilled meat-free market share. Other companies in the space include Quorn, which was one of the first plant-based brands to launch back in 1985, Linda McCartney Foods and Quorn sister brand Cauldron.
And while 2023 saw a fall in sales for plant-based meat alternatives in the UK, there are signs of recovery: grocery chain Tesco reported that sales of plant-based steaks and ‘chicken’ breasts are up 20% since the start of 2024, and meat-free burgers have sold 10% more than the year before.
