It’s a big week for Wicked Kitchen – and for the vegan food industry at large.
Since it was founded in 2018 by a pair of brothers from New England, Wicked Kitchen has pretty much become a household name among vegans in the UK. The company is renowned for its tasty plant-based ready meals, which include bolognese, mac and cheese, pizza and more.
After selling 10 million units in the first 16 months after its launch, the company has gone from strength to strength, launching in the US in 2021 and Finland, Estonia and Thailand in 2022.
Wicked Kitchen has grown so successful in the past few years, it has acquired other popular vegan brands to contribute to its product offering. In September 2022, it acquired the largest vegan seafood brand in the world: Good Catch. The brand’s signature crab cakes, fish burgers and fish fillets have since become staples of Wicked Kitchen’s offering.
It’s been a good few years for the brand, but now, a new deal is shaking things up – with implications for the whole plant-based food industry.
A new enterprise called Ahimsa Companies has just acquired Wicked Kitchen, as well as Good Catch and Current Foods.
Matt Tullman, Group CEO of Ahimsa Companies, said: “As Ahimsa Companies brings together more brands, it can leverage this strength to help stabilize and shape the new landscape for the plant-based industry.”
Wicked promises that the new collaboration will enable them to expand to more retailers and increase their food service offering. They already offer more than 150 products.
Mr Tullman indicated that there may be staff changes at Wicked in conjunction with the deal.
“So far, we’ve been able to maintain 100% of the positions to today. Like I say, we’re going to work through making sure that everyone finds the right home, long-term. I’d be lying to myself and to you if I said that we weren’t going to see a lot of efficiencies created, so to speak. There has to be cost cutting.”
The deal with Wicked Kitchen is Ahimsa Companies’ first. Their focus will be on the US market and, in Wicked’s case, the UK.
Mr Tullman explained Ahimsa Companies’ origins:
“[We formed] just a few months ago, so we are a new entity. The group behind it, myself included, are long-time supporters of the plant-based mission. One of our backers is a non-profit foundation called the Ahimsa Foundation. They’ve been supporting hundreds of for-profit and non-profit entities – Wicked Kitchen included – and we saw an opportunity to usher Wicked Kitchen into its next evolution.”
They are on the lookout for other acquisition targets – provided they’re 100% plant-based.
