Hunter & Gather, a UK-based better-for-you condiments and supplements manufacturer, is planning to target the US market.
The London company, which has a gluten-free product portfolio including avocado oil mayonnaise, unsweetened ketchup and collagen peptides, was founded in 2017 by Amy Moring and Jeff Webster. It describes itself as a ‘real food’ business because of its use of sustainable ingredients and avoidance of seed oils and refined sugar.
Hunter & Gather ships to more than 150,000 households in the UK via its own website and Amazon and is also stocked in the market by retailers including Whole Foods Market.
On the back of a record year, the business, which additionally describes itself as an “ancestrally-inspired lifestyle brand”, is now targeting US consumers.
Moring told Just Food: “This year we are looking at £6.5m ($8.2m) to £7m revenue and are trialling a launch with Amazon in the US. We already ship to Europe.”
Despite the link with Whole Foods in the UK. Moring said the approach in the US, at least initially, is to concentrate on the direct-to-consumer channel.
“Our revenue from D2C just continues to outperform – 80% of our business is e-commerce,” she said.
“Although we are in Whole Foods in the UK, it would be dealt with by a different set of buyers in the US and would probably mean us having to manufacture over there.”
Moring, who said Hunter & Gather is “skirting profitability”, sees the business growing in strength as consumers’ focus on health increases, not least because of the rising use of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs to counter illnesses such as diabetes.
While noting this trend, Moring said the company does not want to become associated with a particular diet, such as keto.
“Our products are default diabetes-friendly but it is important for us to not pigeonhole ourselves,” she said.
The company is backed by a family office and a number of individuals following a £1.4m funding round.
“We grew the brand with very little investment but took on investment as we are now in a growth stage so we can invest in more stock,” she said.
Moring, who previously worked for UK pet-food manufacturer Lily’s Kitchen, said new product development could see the business launching a functional snack range. It has recently launched a collagen creamer.
