Wicked Kitchen acquires Good Catch’s North American plant-based seafood channels

A selection of Good Catch and Wicket Kitchen plant-based products.

Plant-based food supplier Wicked Kitchen has acquired Good Catch’s North American channels from Gathered Foods.

Founded in 2017, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.-based Wicked Kitchen offers more than 40 products at U.S. retailers and in the U.K. and Europe. Over the past year, Wicked Kitchen has tripled its distribution from Tesco in the U.K. to more than 6,500 retail stores in the U.S., as well as in Finland and Estonia. This fall, the brand is launching in Thailand. Good Catch will fold into Wicked and will be managed from the Wicked Kitchen's headquarters in Minneapolis.

Also founded in 2017, New York City, U.S.A.-based Good Catch produces plant-based seafood products that are sold nationwide in the U.S. at retailers including Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Giant, and, in nearly 500 Tesco stores in the U.K. The products are also sold under the Swell Catch brand in Canada.

The deal will extend Wicked Kitchen’s multi-category plant-based offerings to frozen and ambient seafood products, ”enhancing the company’s expansive portfolio of meal solutions and ingredients,” Wicked Kitchen and Good Catch said in a joint press release.

“By folding Good Catch’s plant-based seafood offerings into Wicked Kitchen’s North American footprint, we will have the largest variety of animal-free consumer packaged goods in the industry available at more than 30,000 distribution points,” Wicked Kitchen CEO Pete Speranza said. “[The two brands’ product lines] complement each other and are 100 percent accretive, and the breadth of products across departments – from appetizers to desserts and everything in between – allows us to provide great-tasting food that appeals to everyone.”

In the all-stock transaction, Gathered Foods will become a shareholder of Wicked and will gain a seat on the company’s board.

“Gathered will focus on its core strength in the development and production of exceptional and innovative plant-based proteins,” the two suppliers said.

Wicked Kitchen will take over Good Catch’s brand in North America, which will be run under Speranza’s leadership.

“This will allow for more opportunities to ramp up product innovation, research, and development as well as foodservice with [chief culinary officer] Chad Sarno at the helm. With its regional and national foodservice and restaurant partnerships, including a previous alignment with Long John Silver's, Good Catch brings seasoned expertise to help accelerate Wicked Kitchen’s presence in that category,” the companies said.

“When creating Wicked Kitchen and Good Catch, our goal for both brands was to develop culinary-driven, industry-changing products that would challenge the way consumers think about their food choices and experiences,” Sarno said. “By coming together as one team and one mission, we will have a broader positive impact.”

Photo courtesy of Wicked Kitchen and Good Catch

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