ST. LOUIS — St. Louis-based Hungry Planet, a startup that makes plant-based meats, has snagged an investment from one of the region's largest publicly traded companies.
Hungry Planet said Monday that consumer packaged goods holding company Post Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POST) has provided it with an investment as part of a strategic partnership inked between the two St. Louis firms. Financial terms of the investment and partnership were not disclosed.
Launched by co-founders and siblings Todd and Jody Boyman, Hungry Planet has developed plant-based meat products covering nine different protein types. The startup distributes its products through foodservice industry, restaurants, grocery stores and e-commerce.
Through its new partnership with Post, Hungry Planet will work with Post's foodservice and retail units to bolster distribution as the two companies aim to capitalize on the booming plant-based foods market. Hungry Planet CEO Todd Boyman said the partnership will help his company reach millions of more customers.
“By working closely with Post and their established customer base, we’re going to be able to reach just a lot more of the food service industry. Quick-serve clients will be able to access our foods," he said. "We’ll not only be able to reach them, but we’ll just be able to really carefully manage those accounts and make sure everybody is positioned for success.”
The Boymans began research and development for their company more than a decade ago and started quietly piloting their products about four years ago. Todd Boyman said the company began to scale up operations in recent years to meet rising demand for plant-based meats. The company, which has 25 employees, last year inked a distribution and logistics partnership with Mount Sterling, Illinois-based foodservice industry redistributor Dot Foods.
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