German Plant-Based Food Pioneer Veganz Gears Up For IPO

Veganz, the company that pioneered the plant-based industry in Germany a decade ago, is now gearing up to go public. The IPO is expected to launch in the coming months on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB) to raise up to €50 million to fuel the Berlin-based firm’s expansion plans. 

Veganz has announced its plan to launch an IPO on the FWB in the next few months to raise €50 million. The company, which has since its inception in 2011 grown to become the largest and sole multi-category plant-based food supplier across Europe, says the proceeds will help accelerate its growth. 

Veganz IPO

Most of the funds will be set aside for the construction of a new 10,000 square metre Berlin production facility, as well as ramping up R&D, marketing and distribution. It will also help Veganz, which currently operates in over half of all European countries with more than 22,600 points of sale with major retailers like Aldi, Lidl and Coop, to enter new European markets. 

At the moment, Veganz’ portfolio boasts around 120 products covering multiple plant-based categories, including vegan meat, milk and other dairy substitutes, as well as snacks, sauces, condiments, other cooking ingredients, and ready meals. It also operates its own supermarket chain, with 3 stores located in Berlin. 

“With 10 years of experience, Veganz is a ‘first mover’ in the plant-based food market. [We] offer a highly innovative product range that is able to satisfy consumers’ needs from breakfast to dinner. We also believe that none of our competitors has a comparably broad range as we do,” said founder and CEO Jack Bredack. 

“We see a positive momentum for purely plant-based food products driven by several trends like the rising consciousness of food sustainability and for animal welfare,” he added, citing the growing numbers of mainstream consumers turning to flexitarianism. “Therefore, we believe that we have multidimensional growth potential and that now is the right time for Veganz to go public.”

Vegan cheese and seafood: the next focus

Aside from growing the brand and distribution footprint, Veganz says that the IPO will help the company accelerate towards its next stage of growth in the categories of plant-based cheese and seafood. 

While the broader European vegan food industry has grown double-digits over the past two years, cheese and seafood alternatives represent the fastest-growing segments. While the plant-based cheese market is set to double to $4.5 billion by 2025, the alternative seafood sector has seen huge investment growth, raising $116 million within the first half of 2021—more than the total recorded last year.

Veganz plans to use the new manufacturing site in Berlin to produce plant-based cheese and fish in-house, rather than outsource production, which could help boost revenues for the firm in the long-term. 

“A key factor in margin improvement could potentially arise from vertical integration with the expansion of our own production,” said CFO Alexandra Vázquez Bea. 

“The establishment of our own production capacity and focus on the three categories ‘cheese-alternatives’, ‘fish-alternatives’ and ‘textured vegetable proteins’ should allow us to leverage technology and supplier relationships, reduce costs through supply chain improvement and furthermore improve commodity pricing through potential own indoor farming.”

Plant-based IPOs

Veganz is joining the small but growing list of plant-based companies who have gone public, a move that Beyond Meat was the first to achieve back in 2019. Other vegan companies that have since gone public include Canadian firms The Very Good Butchers and Modern Meat, and earlier this year in May, Swedish oat milk giant Oatly.

There are now reports saying that Eat Just, the maker of the famous plant-based JUST Egg, and Impossible Foods, are also gearing up for their IPOs in the months ahead.

All images courtesy of Veganz.