Nestlé snaps up majority stake in UK’s Mindful Chef
Nestlé has agreed to acquire a majority stake in the healthy recipe box and prepared frozen meals company Mindful Chef, bolstering its food and direct-to-consumer offerings in the UK and Ireland.
Financial details and terms of the deal, which is expected to close before the end of the year, were not disclosed but school friends Giles Humphries, Myles Hopper and Robert Grieg-Gran, who founded the company in 2015, will remain minority shareholders and continue to run Mindful Chef.
As a result of the takeover, consumer brands specialist investor Piper, which invested in Mindful Chef in 2018, will exit the business.
Tim Lee, Mindful Chef’s CEO, expects to see sales of over £50m this year: “Nestlé’s experience and support gives us the opportunity to build on this success in the UK and beyond.”
Crowdfund investors
Since its launch five years ago, the business delivered around 9.5m meals to households across the UK. Following two oversubscribed crowdfunding rounds with Seedrs in 2016 and Crowdcube in 2017, the business amassed support from roughly 800 crowdfund investors, including Sir Andy Murray, Victoria Pendleton CBE and Will Greenwood MBE.
The acquisition further expands Nestlé’s portfolio of direct-to-consumer businesses with Mindful Chef joining coffee brands Nespresso and Nescafé Dolce Gusto as well as newer additions in petcare, such as Tails.com and Lily’s Kitchen.