Livekindly Collective, the US-based vegetarian-foods supplier, has forged a plant-based joint venture in South Africa with locally-based RCL Foods, one of its backers.
Livekindly Collective Africa, approved last week by South Africa’s Competition Commission, will market, sell and distribute all of Livekindly Collective’s brands – including those of local business Fry Family Food Co. and Germany’s LikeMeat and Sweden’s Oumph – in South Africa and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The JV partners said they want to “build a robust plant-based ecosystem in the region – from agriculture all the way down to go-to-market brands and infrastructure”.
RCL Foods, which has brands including Rainbow’s Simply Chicken, entered the plant-based foods category via an investment in a minority shareholding in Livekindly Collective in January 2020.
Miles Dally, RCL Foods’ CEO, said: “We are excited to partner with Livekindly Collective in taking plant-based protein from niche to mainstream in South and sub-Saharan Africa, which will provide people with more options and encourage more sustainable food choices.”
Kees Kruythoff, the chairman and CEO of Livekindly Collective, said: “Through this strategic partnership, we will be able to bring nutritious and delicious plant-based products to even more consumers in Africa faster by making it more accessible and affordable.”
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataLast month, Livekindly Collective announced former Unilever CEO Paul Polman had joined its board.
