Gluten-free bread and cookies
“The Genius Foods investment happened a couple of week ago, but has remained under the radar up until now”, Belgian business newspaper De Tijd wrote. According to the paper, Verlinvest invested “several million pounds”, but it is unclear how many shares it will get. “The Verlinvest investment should help the company expand internationally and to research new products, while also shortening British delivery times”, the paper concludes.
Genius Foods, founded in 2009 in Edinburgh, makes gluten-free bread, pastries, cookies and pies, while it managed a 2013 turnover of some 60 million euro with 350 employees.
Food and e-commerce
Genius Foods is Verlinvest’s eighth participation in a food company, with Popchips (low-fat chips), Bevyz (drink capsules), Vita Coco (coconut drinks), Leblon (liquor), Hint (water with aroma and vitamins), Sula Vineyards (wine) and Sambazon (smoothies based on Acai berries) also on the list. It also had a participation in French drink group Remy-Cointreau up until last year.
The group is also fully focused on e-commerce investments, with a participation in Zalora, Lazada and The Iconic (owned by the German Rocket Internet group).
