Meati Foods, the creator of products that feature the MushroomRoot superfood, announced it is making it easier for shoppers to buy its products by expanding into 2,000 Kroger Family Stores in April. And Meati grew from six retail locations to 6,000+ stores nationwide in just over a year.
The company also recently raised over $100 million in a C-1 round led by Grosvenor Food & AgTech, with returning investors including Prelude Ventures, BOND, Revolution Growth, and Congruent to address the growing demand for its products. Mark Cupta from Prelude Ventures and Katrin Burt from Grosvenor Food & AgTech have joined the company as new board members.
Three products in the Eat Meati line—the Classic cutlet and Classic and Carne Asada steaks—are now available in Kroger’s Family of Companies stores, including Kroger, Ralphs, Mariano’s, City Market, King Soopers, Dillons, and others.
Kroger joins a large list of retailers where Eat Meati products are available, including Super Target, Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Meijer and Wegmans. And up to 40% of Meati sales come from consumers purchasing animal-free protein for the first time, and repurchase rates are as high as 60%. The four SKUs in the Eat Meati product line are consistently among the top performers in the animal-free protein category overall and have helped grow the category for these leading commercial partners.
Following this funding round, Meati Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer Tyler Huggins will transition to an advisory role to support the company’s continued growth.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are excited to continue our partnership with Meati. Meati produces delicious, nutritious and affordable protein and our firm is proud to back this category-leading product, talented team and mission to make MushroomRoot a global food staple.”
- Katrin Burt, Managing Partner, Grosvenor Food & AgTech
“Meati is on a mission to make MushroomRoot™ the undisputed leader of the center of the plate. The backing of our investors, the belief by retailers nationwide,
the love from our customers and the commitment from our employees leave no doubt in my mind that we’re on the right path to get there,” said
- Phil Graves, CEO of Meati
“When Justin Whiteley and I founded Meati, we set out to harness the power of nature to make awesome products that were a positive force for good in the world. It’s inspiring to see how far we’ve come in a short period of time, and I’m ready to pass the day-to-day running of the company to Phil Graves and the leadership team to take it to the next level.”
- Meati Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer Tyler Huggins