Splendid Spoon Scoops $12 Million For Subscription Plant-Based Meal Delivery Expansion

Plant-based meal subscription player Splendid Spoon has announced a successful Series B funding round totalling $12 million led by Nicoya, with Danone Manifesto Ventures, Torch Capital and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian all participating, amongst others. The latter two are both return backers. The previous Series A round amount remains undisclosed. New funding is earmarked for wider distribution and product line evolution. 

Founded in 2013 to help busy professionals put health on their agenda, Splendid Spoon was the brainchild of Nicole Centeno. Starting in her New York home kitchen, she sold plant-based soups and smoothies at Brooklyn markets, before snagging a wholesale deal with Fresh Direct in 2015. 2018 saw the subscription model begin, but customers remain free from duress to sign up to regular deliveries.

Branching out

Centeno has spoken about the last few years being entirely focussed on developing recipes. A menu with in excess of 50 plant-based meals has been created for delivery throughout the contiguous U.S. states. Including on-demand, subscription-free capability has contributed to a doubled growth rate since 2020. To date, 20,000 subscribers are in place. Co-CEO Elise Densborn noted that for every dollar invested in Splendid Spoon so far, $15 have been generated as revenue

“Health is really the driving force for our consumer,” Centeno, founder and co-CEO of Splendid Spoon told TechCrunch. “There’s some scary stats out there that you’ve probably heard about, like the CDC study that revealed only one in 10 Americans are actually getting their servings of vegetables. Now, 85% of Americans are actually trying to eat healthier. We really believe that the meal delivery space is a symptom of people trying to take health back into their own hands.The pandemic really accelerated the trial in direct-to-consumer and allowed folks to say, ‘Hey, is this one step easier to get these meals delivered to my house?’ and the answer has been yes.” 

New funding will be used to increase core products. Alongside, new categories of foods and meal programmes are planned. Hiring new team members has been identified as a priority to support scale-up. Currently, 34 people are on board, more than double the 15 individuals that rung in 2021 at Splendid Spoon. 

Supplements and non direct-to-consumer food models are being explored. “There’s a lot of creation to happen over the next 12 months,” Centeno concluded.

Plant-based deliveries on the up

Industry reports claim that the online meal delivery market will reach $7 billion by the close of 2022. This is before it triples in the five years up to 2027. Combined with a surge in plant-based curiosity and post-pandemic health concerns, meat-free meal delivery services are proving popular, especially for buys consumers looking for convenience.

Earlier this year, US-based Daily Harvest announced it has expanded its range to include a number of baked dishes. The line has taken inspiration from globally popular dishes, with high protein levels and fibre built into recipes. 

Baby food has entered the subscription-based meal sector as well. Mamamade, a UK-based company, revealed in January that it had completed an oversubscribed crowdfunding raise via Seedrs. Delivering organic plant-based baby and toddler meals direct to busy parents, the founders have discussed previous difficulties in securing investment, before raising $2 million for continued expansion. 

All photos courtesy Splendid Spoon.