Canadian food retailer Metro Inc has struck a deal to acquire a majority stake in Montreal-based meal-kit maker MissFresh.
Financial terms were not disclosed but Metro said MissFresh’s founders will retain a 30% stake in the business and play “an active part” in the management of the firm.
Go deeper with GlobalData
MissFresh was set up in 2015 by Marie-Eve Prevost, Bernard Prevost, and Ritter Huang. Metro said the company “meets a growing demand from families and professionals who want to eat healthy and balanced foods, but who have little time for shopping and preparing meals”.
Metro CFO François Thibault described Miss Fresh as “a promising concept that is already popular with consumers”. He added: “As an alternative solution to healthy eating that is easy to prepare and delivered to your door, MissFresh offers products that will be complementary to what we have in store, which will help us to better meet the needs of consumers.”
Ms Provost said MissFresh was “thrilled to partner with Metro”. She added the deal “will enable MissFresh to accelerate its growth and development in Canada”.
The development of online meal-kit businesses has attracted the interest of food manufacturers and retailers operating across the border in the US.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataIn June, Nestle acquired a minority stake in US online meal-kit service Freshly, one of a series of investments packaged food majors have made in the category.
Earlier this year, The Campbell Soup Company backed, as the sole investor, US direct-to-consumer personalised food and nutrition start-up Habit and, more recently, made a $10m investment in US meal-kit start-up Chef’d.
Unilever, meanwhile, in May led a $9m investment in US meal-kit start-up Sun Basket.
