On February 10, 2022, Global Food and Ingredients (GFI), a Canadian company specializing in plant-based foods and ingredients, announced the completion of the acquisition of the premium plant-based brand YourFitness Dish (YoFiit) to expand GFI’s range in plant-based milk and healthy snacks The layout and volume of the class market.

It is understood that YoFiit is one of the most innovative plant-based brands in the global food and beverage industry. It has a number of pioneering technologies and has achieved good results in the Pepsi accelerator program. It focuses on high-protein plant-based milk products and sells snack bars and Granola. Cereals, etc., are the new force of North American plant-based brands.

Alliance with plant-based super players

As Canada’s premier plant-based food and ingredients company, Toronto-based GFI is accelerating its growth, working with customers and local farm suppliers to create sustainable supply chains for pulses and other high-protein specialty crop ingredients, Bringing plant protein to the world. GFI has four main business lines: pea protein products, plant-based ingredients, plant-based pet food ingredients and plant-based consumer packaged goods. This GFI’s acquisition of the plant-based franchise brand YoFiit is an important move to expand the plant-based consumer product matrix.

YoFiit’s product portfolio includes a range of plant-based products including high-protein plant-based milks, high-protein low-sugar snack bars and Granola cereals. Due to the unique health claims offered by YoFiit products, the brand has gained a very loyal customer base in Canada.

“YoFiit has major expansion plans into the U.S. market and across Canada, while also developing new plant-based products, continuing to expand and address plant-based product nutrition and flavor shortcomings. We are excited to join GFI to accelerate these plans. , and hopes to directly link the raw material demand of plant-based ingredients to the farm level through GFI’s platform.” YoFiit founder Marie Amazan commented, and GFI also expressed that she is very much looking forward to Yofiit’s successful landing in the United States in a few months to help it achieve market expansion.

Build professional barriers to make plant nutrition better

As mentioned at the beginning, YoFiit is extremely innovative and has a number of firsts. Among YoFiit’s flagship products is the popular line of protein bars. YoFiit Probiotic Energy Bars fully enhance the bar’s satiety and absorbability by combining fiber-rich ingredients like chia seeds and gut-healthy prebiotics. Each energy bar contains about half the amount of fiber an adult needs each day.

In addition to its current product line, YoFiit is also working on a major R&D project to develop more plant-based milk SKUs, plant-based yogurts and plant-based egg substitutes. It is understood that YoFiit has received a government grant of 1.2 million Canadian dollars for product research and development.

Accurate insight and pursuit of victory to seize the plant-based market space

Interest in plant-based foods has soared as consumers focus on personal health, sustainability, food safety and animal welfare, and the Covid-19 outbreak has given plant-based food retail an additional boost, believe These factors will continue to drive the consumption of plant-based foods for a long time to come.

According to Mintel data, plant-based claims in new food and beverage launches in the U.S. increased by 116% between 2018 and 2020. Meanwhile, 35% of U.S. consumers agree that the coronavirus pandemic is proof that humans need to eat less animals. In addition, with the development of innovative technologies for plant-based products and the gradual recovery of mass consumption, brands have more opportunities to attract more consumers and expand their plant-based product matrix.

According to The Good Food Institute, annual sales of the U.S. plant-based milk segment reached $2.5 billion in 2020, a 20% increase from the previous year, and about 50 million U.S. households purchased plant-based milk throughout the year. In 2020, the market size of plant-based yogurt was US$343 million, a year-on-year increase of 20% and a 68% increase in two years. And plant-based eggs as an emerging market also achieved sales of $27 million in 2020, an increase of 168% over the previous year

It can be seen that there is still a lot of room for development in the US plant-based market. Global Food and Ingredients, which has just established its US distribution platform at the beginning of last year, will take over YoFiit, a brand with strong performance in plant substrate blocks, which is not only a complementary choice, but also a far-reaching layout for the entire North American market.