Irish frozen food company Strong Roots raises $18.3m

Irish frozen food business Strong Roots has raised $18.3 million (€16.5 million) it said on Tuesday, in a fundraising led by New York private equity firm Goods Partners LLC.

The company, which specialises in healthy frozen vegetable products such as kale-and-quinoa burgers, roasted beetroot wedges and sweet potato fries, said its series A fundraising round was advised by Alantra.

Strong Roots recently expanded into more than 3,000 US stores through retailers including Target, Wegmans and Whole Foods Market. It expects sales of $50 million this year.

"Consumers globally are more educated than ever about harnessing the nutritional benefits and delicious taste of plant-based foods and are looking for high-quality options that are convenient to prepare," said Strong Roots founder and chief executive Samuel Dennigan.

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Dan Bonoff, a partner at Goode, said: "Sam is an extremely talented and passionate entrepreneur who has created a truly differentiated brand and line of delicious plant-based food products.

“In an impressively short amount of time, Sam has built an exciting brand that resonates with consumers’ increasing preferences towards healthful and environmentally sustainable foods.”

In May, Strong Roots won the Local Enterprise of the Year award at The Irish Times Business Awards 2019, which is run in association with KPMG.