Brief: McCain invests $55m into Irish plant-based brand Strong Roots

• Canadian frozen foods giant McCain Foods has ploughed $55 million into Strong Roots, which claims to be Ireland’s first certified B Corp, as part of a broader partnership between the two companies.
• Dublin-based Strong Roots says it makes “tasty, plant-based food designed for busy lives.” Its range of frozen products includes alt-proteins items as well as snacks and convenience foods.
• The partnership will see the two companies “grow [this] plant-based product range globally,” working with an objective to “fix the freezer aisle and provide plant-based, environmentally responsible, positive food choices” for consumers.

Why it matters:

New York-based private equity firm Goode Partners, which led Strong Roots’ Series A round, exits the startup as a result of this deal with McCain.

The deal is just the latest of several investments McCain has made in the emerging agrifoodtech space recently.

It backs The Simple Root, which “uses unique [intellectual property and] technology developed in partnership with McCain” to create alt-dairy products available to the UK market, using potatoes and other root vegetables to offer cooking sauces, dips, and cheese analogs.

The Canadian company has also invested in Simulate, a US producer of plant-based ‘chicken’ nuggets and patties, as well as Canadian vertical farming firm GoodLeaf and data science company Fiddlehead [disclosure: AFN‘s parent company AgFunder is an investor in Simulate.]