Plant-Based Business Keeps Growing: Good Protein Raises C$128M as LIVEKINDLY Buys Greenforce

Plant-based business is having a very busy week. A Montreal protein shake brand has raised C$128 million (about US$91 million), one of Europe's biggest plant-based food groups has closed a takeover in Germany, and a Danish biotech company has asked the EU to approve whey protein made without a single cow.

On Tuesday, November 10, Good Protein announced it has secured C$128 million in a deal led by growth equity firm SEMCAP Food & Nutrition. Farm Credit Canada, Roynat Equity Partners and Fondaction joined in, and Del Monte Corporation also backed the deal as a strategic investor, vegconomist reports.

Founder Edward Lalonde started the company in 2019 as a one-person operation. Its dairy-free shakes are now sold in more than 4,500 stores across Canada, it says it has sold over 100 million of them, and the flagship All-in-One Shake packs 21 grams of plant protein and 7 grams of fiber per serving. Lalonde and the existing management team keep running the business and the majority of their ownership.

Kate Storey, a partner at SEMCAP Food & Nutrition, explained why the investors are backing it:

Protein shakes used to live in the gym and the supplement aisle. Good Protein moved them into the family grocery cart and made them accessible with a clean, nutrient dense, delicious product that people genuinely want to drink every day. That is exactly the kind of consumer shift we invest behind.

The money will fund further growth in Canada, new products and future expansion abroad. Not bad for a company that is only seven years old.

The same day in Europe, LIVEKINDLY Collective completed its acquisition of Greenforce Future Food AG, the Munich-based maker of plant-based meat, egg and cheese alternatives. The deal was signed on July 1 and has now closed. Greenforce joins the group's LIKE, Oumph! and Fry's brands, and the company, citing NIQ data, says it strengthens its position as the second-largest plant-based supplier in Germany.

CEO David Suarez says Greenforce "strengthens our portfolio and our shelf presence in our core market of Germany." The group now employs 540 people and sells in 40 countries. In October it also completed its purchase of Dutch manufacturer Dalco Food, whose plant in Oss is, according to the company, one of the world's largest wet extrusion plants for plant-based products.

And on Thursday, November 12, Copenhagen's 21st.BIO filed an EU Novel Food application for BLG Essential+, its precision fermentation technology for beta-lactoglobulin, the main protein in whey. It is made by Aspergillus oryzae, the microorganism used for centuries to make soy sauce and miso, so no cows are involved. The protein is already cleared in the US, and the company is asking European regulators for a faster, predictable approval route. "This is not a choice between safety and speed," says co-founder and CEO Thomas G. Schmidt.

Why does all this matter? Every one of these deals puts money into making animal-free food easier to buy and cheaper to make. The more these companies grow, the easier the plant-based choice becomes for everyone.

Back in 2017 we reported that people were ditching whey for vegan protein powders. Since then Lidl GB smashed its plant-based sales target with a 694% rise, Oatly celebrated its first full year of profit and UK tempeh sales soared 71%. The money is following the shoppers.

The future is looking brighter.