In a unique collaboration between finance and consulting, New Crop Capital and BeyondBrands have forged a joint venture to accelerate innovative product development and distribution with critical go-to-market funding and management support.
New Crop Capital, led by established investment manager Chris Kerr, sees the partnership with BeyondBrands as another key component of the fund’s strategy to disrupt the food industry, as well as a model for future alliances.
“We have always invested in talented, focused entrepreneurs who are using their products or services to subvert the factory farming of animals and all of its harms,” says Kerr, whose other investments include Beyond Meat, Lyrical Foods and Miyoko’s Kitchen. “The relationship with BeyondBrands provides a new depth of support with the best plant-based product development and marketing minds in the business.”
Adds Bruce Friedrich, New Crop Managing Trustee and Executive Director of The Good Food Institute, “This type of relationship shows industry leadership in its finest sense. GFI seeks high-impact opportunities combined with underserved markets and moves quickly to address them. This partnership combines our unique and influential resources to address outdated and environmentally destructive business practices. Most consumers are actively reducing the amount of meat, fish, dairy and egg products in their diets. With BeyondBrands and its team of experts, we will have a direct impact in supporting this lifestyle shift – while providing nutritious, clean and delicious products.”
BeyondBrands is a multidisciplinary collective of industry veterans and experts who work exclusively on better-for-you brands in six vertical industries – food, beverage, lifestyle, beauty, nutraceutical and medicinal cannabis. BeyondBrands’ team of leading plant-based chefs, who provide culinary leadership for innovative companies, is a key driver of the New Crop alliance. Renée Loux – author of multiple cookbooks, restaurateur and television personality – drives the efforts with brothers Derek and Chad Sarno, both of whom formerly held executive culinary positions at Whole Foods Market.
Eric Schnell, co-visionary of BeyondBrands, said the partnership is a perfect extension of collaborative efforts within the leadership teams of New Crop Capital and The Good Food Institute.
“It’s unheard of in our natural products industry for financing and product development experts to unify and co-create new companies from an idea, versus simply investing in existing brands,” says Schnell. “Chris, Bruce and their team are visionaries who focus on impact. When we originally explored this model with a collective passion and mission, it just made total sense. It’s been a joy to work with such like-minded professionals on projects that showcase our shared values for improving the quality of life of animals around the world and under the seas.”
New Crop Capital and BeyondBrands’ first collaborative brand will be unveiled Summer 2017.
