Nestlé acquires US meal delivery service Freshly in deal worth up to $1.5bn

Nestlé acquisition of Freshly : Swiss food and beverage giant Nestlé, through its US subsidiary, has acquired Freshly, an American provider of fresh-prepared meal delivery services, in a deal worth up to $1.5 billion.

The consideration includes a fixed price of $950 million and up to $550 million in potential earnouts, which will be based on the successful growth of the meal delivery business.

Established in 2015, Freshly offers a menu of fresh, chef-cooked meals to customers across the US. The company has a weekly subscription service for supplying fresh, chef-cooked meals to the doors of customers.

The delivered meal kits can be warmed using a microwave and are ready to be served in three minutes.

Michael Wystrach – Freshly CEO, commenting on Nestlé acquisition of Freshly, said: “Our mission is to make eating healthy easy by bringing nutritious, high quality meals directly to customers’ homes. Convenience and nutrition are driving forces in the future of food, and our becoming a part of the world’s largest food company confirms that.

“With Nestlé, we will have access to resources, research and development, and years of experience that we can tap into to catapult our growth plans and move closer to our goal of being in every household in America.”

Nestlé acquisition of Freshly. Photo courtesy of Nestlé.

In 2017, Nestlé acquired a stake of around 16% stake in Freshly for assessing and testing the meal kit market.

Currently, Freshly is shipping over a million meals per week to customers across 48 states. Its forecasted sales for 2020 are $430 million.

How Nestlé acquisition of Freshly will help the former

Commenting on Nestlé acquisition of Freshly, Laurent Freixe – Nestlé Zone Americas CEO said: “At Nestlé we know the at-home food market and we know how to win there. With the acquisition of Freshly we are strengthening our position in the U.S. and expanding our ability to deliver a wide variety of delicious food to our consumers when and where they want.

“Whether purchasing our products from the comfort of their homes, in retail stores or through social commerce, we will continue to provide them with unbeatable convenience, choice and ease of purchase.”

Earlier this year, Freshly announced plans to open a new 111,260 square foot facility in the City of Commerce in Los Angeles County in California in a move to grow its food manufacturing operations on the US west coast.