Feel Foods in Canada, an agri-food holding company building its plant-based portfolio through M&A, has acquired local firm Black Sheep Vegan Cheeze.
Vancouver-based Feel Foods started out as NHS Industries operating land and greenhouses in British Columbia, with a listing obtained on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) in 2018. It sold and leased out the greenhouse project this summer to Canpac Investments to “focus its time, attention and capital on its growing agri-holdings and plant-based foods business”.
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Feel Food changed its name in July, securing a new listing on the CSE, with two M&A deals already under its belt. It acquired meal-kit delivery start-up Plenty-Full Food Services in Richmond, British Columbia, in 2020. In March this year, the company snapped up another local firm, Be Good Plant Based Foods, which produces plant-based chicken, pork and beef products, and is also developing keto-friendly, animal-free candy.
A new chief executive was appointed to Feel Foods in August in the form of David Greenway following the resignation of CEO Robert Nygren.
Announcing its latest deal in the plant-based food market, Greenway said: “The acquisition of Black Sheep is exciting for the growing Feel Foods family as we continue to increase our footprint in plant-based foods, thereby reducing our ecological footprint on the planet.
“We are on a mission to transform plant-based food, with no compromises on taste or quality while reducing [the] global environmental impact.”
Black Sheep was founded in 2017 by vegan husband and wife team James and Jenna Johnson and produces organic almond- and soy-based cheeses. Its almond range includes the names Jalapeno Veddar, Camemvert, Vrie, Smoked Vouda and Herbed Vozzarella.
The soy-based line-up features Voursin, Veta and Dillicious vegan spread.
They are available in IGA stores and The Very Good Butchers, retail outlets operated by the Canadian plant-based food firm The Very Good Food Co., which recently acquired The Cultured Nut company, a dairy-free cheese business based in Victoria, British Columbia.
Feel Foods said it “intends to finance and support a North America-wide expansion” of Black Sheep once the share-exchange agreement is completed. It will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Black Sheep in exchange for 3.4 million of its own shares and a cash payment of CAD750,000 (US$592,869).
Other incentive payments have also been set out, including a conditional CAD500,000 based on Black Sheep’s sales post-transaction.
Just Food reached out to the Black Sheep owners for comment, who said: “We are very passionate about our Cheeze company and are excited that Feel Foods has purchased us. We look forward to the growth of Black Sheep Vegan Cheeze and are excited to be a part of that.”
