Herbivore: Why Secha Capital Co-Invested with Tiger Brands
Secha Capital is pleased to announce our third investment out of our second fund, Secha Capital Impact, a co-investment with Tiger Brands, the largest food company in Africa, into alternative protein company, Herbivore Earthfoods!
At Secha Capital, we believe that sustainability factors have an increasingly material impact on companies’ returns over the long-term and that sustainability is a current and future driver of the economy.
Secha’s three portfolio companies — iG3N, Cultura Fresh and now Herbivore — help reduce carbon emissions in 77% of the largest emitting sectors. All three companies are job creators, environmentally-positive, and profitable, key enablers. They meet large, existing demand with a capital-efficient, uniquely African solution. And they map to multiple Sustainable Development Goals.
Secha was focused on investing in the alternative protein space because it is not a trend, but a large, growing permanent category. This category has tailwinds across many drivers such as health and wellness, affordability, animal ethics and sustainability.
In Herbivore, we have found yet another Black and woman-founded, mission-driven, job-creating, profitable company solving a need for African consumers. We are honoured to be a partner in their vision.
Herbivore is South Africa’s go-to brand for everything innovative, healthy and tasty. Herbivore products are part of consumers’ weekly shop of mince, patties and wors; filling up pantries with spreads, “honi”, mayo, chocolate snacks, coconut milk — and soon many more protein alternatives and desserts.
“In drawing on the knowledge and experience of strategic partners Tiger Brands and Secha Capital we will be able to capitalise on current and future trends in the plant-based food and food technology space,” says Chanel Grantham, co-Director of Herbivore.
Tiger Brands and Secha Capital have a shared vision to support Herbivore to be Africa’s flagship brand in innovative, affordable, and healthy animal alternative products.
“We are proud to invest in the Herbivore team because they have been persistent early innovators in the category and their success has shone through in their product range and market adoption. We’re equally proud of the impact the business has by being 7x more water-efficient and producing 90% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than animal-based products” said Kuhle Mnisi, Principal and Operator-Investor at Secha Capital.
Mnisi continued: “We also believe that Tiger Brands’ co-investment is a signal to the market that there is both opportunities in this sector and that the investment ecosystem in Africa is widening and deepening from growth stage to the secondary market. We believe that this too is key in order to help grow the next leading business in Africa.”
See news coverage here: https://bit.ly/BizCommSechaTBHerbivore28March
