Multizen Holdings from Hong Kong has invested in Ripple Foods, a Californian vegan pea-based dairy brand, this marks Multizen’s first sustainable impact investment into start-ups providing disruptive food solutions, according to Green Queen Media.
Multizen is one of the largest B2B confectionery and snack companies in the Greater China region. Its brands include Godiva, Hershey’s and MARS.
Ripple Foods, founded in 2014 by Adam Lowry and Neil Renniger, makes plant-based lines of milk, yogurts and frozen desserts. The products contain 8g of plant-based protein per serving which comes from Ripptein – a protein blend extracted from peas that is isolated to leave out the flavour that you might expect from pea.
China, along with other Asian countries, is fast catching up in terms of its interest in plant-based industries and more and more brands are finding ways to invest, create and import plant-based products to help meet demand.
Multizen’s CEO Tommy Lee told Green Queen that the investment is a part of the company’s understanding that consumers in Asia are increasingly demanding healthier and environmentally-friendly products, he went to state: “For Multizen to grow in our B2B manufacturing industry, we also need to understand this trend and take part in it. Our goal is to be involved in these start-ups at an early stage, and eventually, when they are ready to expand into Greater China, we can be their potential manufacturing partner in this part of the world by helping them to get products quickly to the local markets here.”