Disrupting the plant-based space: Livekindly acquires Swedish brand Oumph!

17 Jun 2020 --- The Livekindly Co., a collective of heritage and start-up brands, has acquired Oumph!, an award-winning plant-based brand from Sweden. With this purchase, Livekindly underscores its ambition to spearhead environmentally-friendly meat alternatives. Under the leadership of global food industry veterans, Livekindly is working to make plant-based living the new normal by building an ecosystem of founder-led plant-based consumer brands. The move comes at a time where plant-based growth and opportunities are soaring at an incredible pace.

“The Livekindly Co. is leading a movement to build a more sustainable future through our portfolio of brands – who are all creating delicious healthy plant-based food – and our ecosystem of mission-aligned partners,” says Kees Kruythoff, CEO and Chairman of the Livekindly Co. “Bringing Oumph! into the Livekindly Co. family was a natural next step for us. Their commitment to plant-based food quality and protecting the planet mirrors our own as we accelerate our mission to make plant-based eating the new normal.”

Oumph! is a part of Food for Progress. Food for Progress is a Swedish food company that joins forces to produce tasty, nutritious and climate-friendly food. Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, Anna-Kajsa Lidell, Co-Founder and Head of Progress Strategy, Food for Progress, says: “With Livekindly, we have found the perfect partner for us. We share the same values and ambitions, and with them, we will get both the muscles and the networks needed to advance our positions both in new markets and product development. We will also be a part of a very strong product portfolio with LikeMeat and Fry’s, and the synergies will enable us to move at both speed and scale.”

“Plant-based food has been named of the biggest megatrends in food in decades, with double-digit growth across markets, and we hope and believe that we have just seen the starting point so far. Together with the Livekindly Co, we hope to drive the green protein shift by putting delicious and sustainable food in a concept and brand that appeals to a wider audience,” she adds. 

“Our mission from day one has been to get more people eating plant-based food, a healthier, more sustainable way forward for the environment. I look forward to working with Livekindly Co. to introduce new and existing products to more people around the world,” notes Anders Wallerman, Co-Founder of Oumph!

Founded in 2014, Oumph! is part of the Swedish company Food for Progress, which seeks to help create a sustainable and secure worldwide food system, and a partner of the Research Institute of Sweden (RISE) to develop plant-based ingredients. 

Oumph! products are available across the Nordic countries, the UK, Ireland, and they recently launched in the Netherlands. Since the launch in Sweden in 2015, the brand has become a favorite with a broader audience across markets, driving new consumers to the plant-based category. According to the company, the brand has had a steady development in the UK this year, with a sales increase of 400 percent in the first four months, compared to the same period last year. 

Oumph! products are available across the Nordic countries, the UK, Ireland, and they recently launched in the Netherlands. 

“Start-ups are important because innovation and bold concepts do not get torn down to no edge like in big corporate companies. They are normally run by really passionate people, prepared to take personal risk, and with both a strong, clear purpose and innovation at hand, they attract the biggest talents. Those combined make start-ups important to move the world into a safe space for humanity,” continues Lidell. 

“Collaborations like this support the plant-based food sector moving forward by showing the world that companies with aligned purposes can create the best of foundations for the next step. In this case, Oumph! as a brand will be able to fly globally at the same time as Food for Progress can continue to drive the green protein shift with all its other tools, as a production partner to Oumph! and many other brands and creators of new concepts,” she highlights. 

Plant-based food growth
Innova Market pegs the “The Plant-Based Revolution” as the second most significant trend expected to influence NPD this year, fueled by growing consumer awareness of the impact of meat consumption on both personal and planetary health.

New launches with vegan claims have seen a substantial rise and are barreling toward the mainstream. Innova Market Insights notes a 23 percent annual growth of food and beverage launches tracked with vegan claims (Global, 2015 to 2019). Moreover, vegan food is becoming more significant, with more than one in four global consumers saying vegan alternative food launches are most sustainable (Innova Market Insights Survey Global, 2019).

Moreover, the coronavirus pandemic has pushed calls for reductions in meat and dairy consumption, a theme which was already in the spotlight.

Offerings labeled as “plant-based” appeal to the larger flexitarian and meat-reducer consumer base more than explicitly calling out vegans or vegetarians. Despite there being no set definition of plant-based products, it seems as if they become a norm in our food culture. With NPD moving at a lightning pace, the industry is seeing more innovation than ever, even from companies who were unwilling to change previously, tailoring their offerings to meet the demand of the flexitarian consumer. 

At the start of the year, UK retailer Tesco debuted Sticky Smokehouse Oumph! into select stores in the UK and Ireland to kick off Veganuary. 

By Elizabeth Green