Rockshield closes acquisitions of plant-based and food-tech companies Belle Pulses and Sapientia

05 Aug 2021 --- Rockshield Capital Corp. has narrowed the focus of its investment strategy on the key areas of sustainable food-tech, plant-based ingredients and agriculture.

Working with its affiliate entity Innovative Prairie Snack Foods, Rockshield has acquired pulses processor Belle Pulses and The Healthy Table Superfoods (Sapientia), which together generated US$60 million in revenue, US$15 million in gross profit and US$9 million in EBITDA this year.

With these recent investments, the firm is sharing its long-term ambition of scaling up its vertically integrated global plant-based foods platform.

“The completion of these transactions and underlying strengths of each business coming together is a true differentiator in the plant-based industry,” comments Marc Aneed, newly-appointed president of Rockshield.

“The trends for plant-based foods are only getting stronger, and we are well-positioned to rapidly scale and capture market share with the closing of these acquisitions and US$6 million in revenue as our starting point.”

Rockshield will not be proceeding with the previously announced investment in Boku International and has terminated its previously announced letter of intent (LOI) with the organic superfood player.

Belle Pulses is among the largest processors of plant-based ingredients in Canada.Belle Pulses
Belle Pulses is among the largest processors of plant-based ingredients in Canada. The company counts a broad range of customers, including global strategic food companies and major ingredient distributors. 

Growing demand for the company’s split peas has prompted numerous expansions. In 2020, it reported its “busiest year ever.”

The company has partnered with leading brands in the plant-based foods sector and has developed proprietary and healthy ingredients to provide to the market.

“This represents the culmination of 42 years of hard work with Rockshield’s acquisition, which provides a significant opportunity for the Belle Pulses name to be expanded to an even greater audience,” comments Tony Gaudet, founder and CEO of Belle Pulses.

“We have an ideal partner that can help us scale rapidly from US$60 million in revenue this year, to much more in 2022 and beyond.”

The Healthy Table Superfoods (Sapientia)
Healthy Table is a consumer-packaged goods (CPG) platform that owns vegan snacks and intellectual property-related plant-based offerings. Shipping this month, its patented “P-Curls” will be available in Federated Co-Operative stores across western Canada, with several strategic Tier 1 CPG partnerships in development.

Sapientia has developed plant-based products with ground-breaking IP in foods and beverages, including four foundational patents, two trade secrets and the proprietary formulae for approximately one dozen product categories.

Products include plant-based meats and plant-based meat snacks, plant-based dairy milks and yogurts, and pulse-based “puffed/twisted” snack foods, prioritizing high protein, low fat, nutritious products.

Healthy Table will leverage international global networks with strategic large CPG food companies, the leading North American plant-based food innovation incubator, snacking/quick-serve and school distributors, alongside AI-driven e-commerce platforms to enhance efficiencies.

Sapientia is led by Dr. Eugenio Bortone, a food scientist with a Ph.D. in Food Engineering, an MS in Nutrition, 25 issued patents and over 25 years of food, snack foods, pet foods, formulation, product development, process scale-up and commercialization experience.

Dr. Bortone was previously the lead developer in the Cheetos brand franchise of Frito Lay, a division of PepsiCo. He had oversight of the invention of Twisted Cheetos, which drove over US$2 billion in revenue.

Edited by Benjamin Ferrer