The Newest Player in Plant-Based Food Expands into Oat-Based Products, Completing the Value Chain of its World Class Oats Platform
Regina, Saskatchewan - TheNewswire — July 20, 2021 - Above Food Corp. (Above Food), a first-of-its-kind vertically integrated, plant-based food company, today announced that it intends to build a significant oat supply chain through the integration of two rising plant-based food brands; Only Oats and Culcherd. This expansion scales upon a comprehensive ingredient and consumer products portfolio for Above Food, satisfying the increasing demand for oat-based products in plant-based dairy and plant-based meat.
“Oats are winning the plant-based dairy battle, so having a platform that has custody over the entire supply chain for the finest oats globally, makes tremendous sense for us,” said Above Food Brands President and Co-Founder Martin Williams. “This is quite personal as I have two children who are gluten and dairy sensitive and have been consumers of both Only Oats and Culcherd products for some time. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Only Oats and Culcherd into our rapidly expanding Above Food family as we look to the future of high-quality, plant-based foods.”
Oats displaced soy in 2020 as the number two plant-based milk, behind almond, with oat-based dairy valued at $3.7B globally and the expectation to see a 9.8% compound annual growth rate 2020-2027 (Grand View Research). These numbers show the significant impact oats is having on the plant-based food industry, illustrating the importance of these acquisitions for Above Food to provide a robust portfolio.
Only Oats follows the most stringent gluten-free growing, processing, and packaging standards – called the Purity Protocol – which allows testing of its products to a standard as low as 5 parts-per-million (PPM) gluten, rather than the gluten-free standard for the FDA and Health Canada of 20 PPM. This means even people with Celiac disease and extreme gluten sensitivities can enjoy products made using Only Oats.
With Only Oats, a premium, certified gluten-free producer of oat-based ingredients and oat-based consumer products, and Culcherd, a certified organic, premium, plant-based dairy company that produces artisanal plant-based dairy products; Above Food has completed the value chain of its world-class oats platform.
The company has plans to construct a dedicated gluten-free facility for storage, processing and packaging for the gluten-free Only Oats, Farmer Direct Organic legumes, and the Eat Up! whole grains and snacks adjacent to its existing organic ingredient terminal, which is the largest organic terminal in Canada.
“We’ve followed both Only Oats and Culcherd over the last year and have admired how they have both built incredible, differentiated platforms,” said Lionel Kambeitz, executive chairman and CEO of Above Food. “At the core, both companies pride themselves on supplying quality foods and ingredients that are nutritious, traceable, and sustainable, which marries everything that we believe in as a brand in order to provide consumers with the foods they want.”
Above Food sees significant synergies for the two new companies, including marrying Only Oats’ comprehensive gluten-free supply chain alongside Above Food’s identity preserved terminals, with ingredient processing and packaging line capabilities. Culcherd provides a strong brand platform that will begin to add oat-based cheese and dairy products to its current product line of premium, probiotic-rich, plant-based cheeses, and butters.
“I’m thrilled to continue leading the business for Only Oats as the director of the oats platform for Above Food,” said Only Oats Founder and CEO Mike Marshall. “This partnership really is a perfect match given Above Food’s scale and vertically integrated strategy, and Only Oats access to and knowledge of the gluten-free oat space. We’ve already hit the ground running and will have much more exciting news to share soon about the future of this platform.”
“Elizabeth Gallagher and I are excited about taking the next step in our journey to help eliminate animals, and plastic from the food system,” said Culcherd Co-Founder Tim Donnelly. “We look forward to forming the foundation for all plant-based dairy innovations at Above Food moving forward. With Above’s scale advantage, leadership, and DNA of innovation, we know we’ll do great things together.”
Only Oats branded products can be found across Canada in leading National banners, Culcherd products can be found in Ontario, Canada in Natural Grocery retailers. Both brands will be available nationally in the USA in Natural Grocery retailers in early 2022.
For more information about Above Food Corp and Above Food Brands, please visit AboveFood.com.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Kendall Huber
Power Digital Marketing for Above Food
kendall.huber@powerdigitalmarketing.com
ABOUT ABOVE FOOD CORP.
Above Food is a first-of-its-kind plant-based ingredient and consumer products platform that celebrates delicious products made with real ingredients, real nutrition, real flavor, and real transparency. Founded in Canada in 2020 by food production ecosystem veterans and visionary co-founders, Lionel Kambeitz, Donato Sferra, Tyler West and Martin Williams, Above Food’s vision is to create a healthier world - one seed, one field, and one bite at a time. With complete chain of custody of plant proteins, and plant-based ingredients, enabled by scaled operations and infrastructure in primary agriculture and processing, Above Food delivers food to businesses and consumers with unparalleled traceability, quantifiable sustainability, and superior nutrient density.
Every Above Food consumer brand – Farmer Direct Organic, Only Oats, Culcherd, and Eat Up! (launching Summer 2021) utilizes regenerative farming practices, and plant-proteins such as oats, chickpeas, peas, lentils and fava beans. Above Food’s brands will be available in August online at www.abovefood.com and in natural grocers in Canada and the U.S.
Above Food’s global B2B division, Purely Canada Foods, is the ingredient supplier to ingredient suppliers and serves customers across 35 countries with its Identity Preserved chain of custody portfolio of plant proteins and plant-based ingredients.
Above Foods emerging Branded Advanced Ingredients platform is focused on the plant-based dairy and plant-based meat market and offers unmatched solutions for texturization, flavoring, and nutrient dense protein formulations to create the most optimal functional and organoleptic experiences.
For more information on Above Food, please visit www.abovefood.com or follow Above Food on Instagram (@above_food), Facebook (Above Food) and LinkedIn (Above Food).
ABOUT ABOVE FOOD BRANDS INC.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Above Food Corp., Above Food Brands Inc. was established in 2019 to develop and distribute premium whole plant alternatives to meat, dairy, bakery, and baby food, by creating delicious, densely nutritious consumer products and branded ingredients.
ABOUT ONLY OATS
Founded in 2008, Only Oats is a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan based premium, Certified Gluten-free whole oat company in the business of sourcing, developing, manufacturing, and marketing oat-based ingredients and oat-based consumer products. As a result of our thorough Purity Protocol, the level of gluten is far below the standard set by Health Canada and FDA (5ppm vs. 20 ppm). This ensures our products are 100% safe for those with celiac disease or gluten-sensitivity.
ABOUT CULCHERD
Culcherd is a 100% certified organic, vegan, Dairy Alternative company. Culcherd was launched in 2015 to help eliminate animals, and plastics from the food system, by creating delicious, chef inspired, fermented vegan dairy alternatives.
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