Mama’s Creations has launched a direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce platform to deliver a selection of its deli products across the US.
The branded supplier to retail, previously trading as MamaMancini’s Holdings until a name change in August, will operate the D2C service from its main manufacturing plant and headquarters in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Mama’s Creations also has another facility in Farmingdale, Long Island. The two factories produce the company’s prepared foods portfolio ranging from meat and sausages to peppers, salads, pasta and panini, to Asian ready meals, Tex Mex offerings and olives.
Chairman and CEO Adam Michaels reaffirmed his “mission” to turn Mama’s Creations into a “one-stop-shop” deli supplier in the US. Speaking to Just Food earlier this year, he outlined an aim to reach $1bn in sales over a yet-to-be specified timescale.
Sales for the year to 31 January almost doubled from $47.1m to $93.2m. However, net sales were more muted in the first six months of the new financial year, rising 7.1% to $47.9m in the period to 31 July.
Michaels said of the D2C launch: “Our move into e-commerce was the result of thoughtful planning and market analysis to developing an efficient and sustainable business model that we expect will improve upon common industry pain points.
“To that end, our new e-commerce platform is a natural next step in our brand evolution and a reaffirmation of our one-stop-shop mission - expanding beyond our established nationwide distribution network to allow consumers to purchase their favourite items online and have them shipped directly to their home or business.”
In what Mama’s Creations described as the first phase of the D2C launch, meal products such as beef and turkey meatballs will be offered at what the company called a “flat rate shipping” charge.
A spokesperson for Mama’s Creations confirmed shipments of the frozen products would be conducted by regular delivery carriers, usually around a flat rate of $12. Grocers would remain the “biggest customer segment” for the business, the spokesperson said in response to an inquiry on the sales expectations from D2C.
“This new channel allows us to dynamically change our offerings to address consumer needs, while capturing what we expect to be an incremental shopping occasion in select regions where consumers may have less convenient access to our products today,” Michaels added.
Chief marketing officer Lauren Sella said Mama’s Creations will begin D2C with the company’s “legacy products”. MamaMancini’s started out as a meatballs-centric and “authentic heritage” Italian food brand, Michaels told Just Food in August.
The business has expanded through M&A, with T&L Creative Salads and Olive Branch, both in New York, acquired in 2021. MamaMancini’s as it was, then bought a minority stake in New Jersey-based Chef Inspirational Foods, a supplier of prepared foods such as salads, meals and side dishes, in 2022.
