February 11, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan

Manna Tree Partners announced it has invested $15 million in exchange for a minority stake in Verde Farms, a leading provider of 100 percent grass-fed, organic, and pasture-raised beef.

Founded in 2005, Verde Farms prioritizes animal welfare, sustainability, and the production of high-quality beef without feedlots or the use of growth hormones, while focusing on traceability in its supply chain, and potential benefits to society and the environment. Through its vertically integrated business model, Verde Farms’s top four points of beef origination are Uruguay, North America, Australia, and New Zealand, and its top products are steaks, grinds, roasts and stews, hot dogs, and sausages.

“Consumers today are more keenly attuned to the impacts of their purchase decisions from a health and sustainability standpoint,” said Brent Drever COO, Manna Tree Partners. “

We believe Verde is well-positioned to become the brand of choice for these consumers based on their sustainability and animal welfare standards, superior-quality products, traceable supply chain, and a proven, sustainable business model.”

The overall global beef market is expected to reach a value of $383 billion by 2025, according to data from Grand View Research. Furthermore, between 2013 and 2018, the market for sustainably-produced food products grew by 24 percent, and is expected to reach $141 billion by 2023, according to Nielsen.  

And while the conventional beef market posts growth generally in the low single digits, organic, grass-fed beef sales have been seeing repeated years of double-digit growth, and grew by 14.8 percent in 2019. 

As a leader in this promising category, Verde Farms has grown its revenue by more than 35 percent since 2016, and has accelerated its sales of branded and value-added products to retailers, clubs, and foodservice customers including Wegmans, Walmart, Aldi, Harris Teeter, Amazon, BJ’s Wholesale Clubs, Schnucks, Fresh Thyme, Bristol Farms, and True Foods Kitchen.

This investment in Verde Farms marks Manna Tree’s fourth capital commitment. Founded in 2018 in Vail, Colorado, by Gabrielle Rubenstein, CEO; Ross Iverson, CIO; and Brent Drever, COO, Manna Tree invests in companies that produce, process, and distribute healthy foods, and is in the process of building a portfolio of companies that balances the need for healthy food with growing a valuable enterprise.

The firm’s maiden investment was in July 2019 in ethical egg producer Vital Farms, and they went on to make further investments in mushroom-based foodtech startup MycoTechnology, and most recently, led a $12.7 million Series C for plant-based ingredient maker and B2B specialist Nutraiti. 

“Manna Tree Partners shares our mission-driven commitment to providing consumers with beef that is better for people, better for the animal, and better for the planet and to craft products using only great-tasting, authentic ingredients like those you can find in your own cupboard at home,” said Dana Ehrlich, CEO, Verde Farms.

Aside from a mission standpoint, this investment in Verde Farms also gives Manna Tree exposure to a healthy food category that still has a lot of room for growth, and a company with its eye on international opportunities.

“The grass-fed organic beef market remains under-penetrated with significant opportunity to expand with a branded product offering and a thoughtful go-to-market strategy,” noted Brent Drever, COO, Manna Tree. “Dana Ehrlich and his team are tapping into that incredible growth opportunity.”

This partnership will better enable us to meet rising global demand for 100 percent grass-fed, 100 percent pasture-raised beef,” added Ehrlich. “In 2020 we are excited to introduce innovative, ready-to-eat mealtime options unlike anything on the market and to continue our geographic expansion within the United States in the near-term and internationally in the long-term.”

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.