Landec Changes Name of Food Business From Apio to Curation Foods
January 11 2019 - 9:00AM
Completes Transition to Natural Foods
Company and Unifies Five Plant-Based Brands with
100% Clean Ingredients Under one Mission-Based Corporate
Entity
Landec Corporation (NASDAQ: LNDC), a diversified health and
wellness company, announced today that it is changing the name of
its food business from Apio, Inc. to Curation Foods, Inc. to
signify the completion of its strategic transition from a fresh
packaged vegetable company to a branded, natural foods company.
Curation Foods will serve as the corporate umbrella for a portfolio
of five natural food brands, including its flagship brand - Eat
Smart® packaged fresh vegetables and salad kits - as well as four
emerging natural food brands, consisting of O Olive Oil &
Vinegar® premium artisan products, Now Planting® pure-plant meal
solutions and Yucatan® and Cabo Fresh® authentic guacamole and
avocado products.
Expanding from one brand to five brands over the past two years,
the Company has moved quickly to enhance its food offering with
on-trend, plant-based products that contain 100% clean ingredients,
deliver higher gross margins, and exhibit less sourcing volatility
than its historical bagged produce products. As they scale over
time, the emerging brands will contribute incremental profits and
operating cash, some of which can be re-invested into future
innovations for the plant-based consumer.
“The mission of Curation Foods is to provide access to fresh,
delicious, plant-based foods made from 100% clean ingredients to as
many people as possible in a way that preserves and protects our
planet,” said Molly Hemmeter, CEO and President of Landec. “The
Curation Foods name represents a vision and a set of values that
are shared across all of our brands and throughout our entire
Company. Our employees have worked diligently over the last several
years to expand our portfolio of natural products and build an
efficient, fresh food supply chain that all of the brands can
leverage to ensure high quality, 100% clean products reach the
consumer in their freshest state possible.”
Since the vision was announced just over two years ago, Landec
has moved aggressively to make the necessary changes in its food
business to become a branded natural foods company. As our flagship
brand, Eat Smart pioneered our entry and evolution into fresh,
plant-based foods. The first step was to ensure all products within
the Eat Smart brand contained only 100% clean ingredients. In 2017,
the Company committed to reformulating all Eat Smart products -
including salad toppings, dressings, sauces and dips - by the end
of calendar year 2018; the Company has met this commitment. Also in
2017, the Company acquired O Olive Oil & Vinegar (O). Following
the acquisition of O, the Company built an in-house vinegar
facility and completed a brand refresh, resulting in over a 200%
increase in the number of distribution points for O vinegar
products. In October 2018, the Company introduced the internally
developed Now Planting brand to specifically target the plant-based
consumer and disrupt the soup category with fresh, pure-plant soups
sold in the refrigerated perimeter of the store. Most recently, in
December 2018, the Company acquired Yucatan Foods, adding Yucatan
and Cabo Fresh authentic guacamole and avocado products to the
portfolio. Uniting all of the brands under the Curation Foods
corporate identity is the final step in the Company’s strategic
transformation of its food business.
The Curation Foods name was chosen to reflect the thoughtful
culture of the Company that is focused on carefully selecting only
all-natural, premium ingredients in order to create a collection of
on-trend products that make it easy for consumers to eat healthy,
delicious plant-based foods. Research shows that 17% of the U.S.
population and 23% of the Canadian population are plant-forward
consumers – not necessarily vegan or vegetarian - preferring
approximately 70% of their meals to include only plant-based
ingredients. With a greater portfolio of fresh, plant-based
products, Curation Foods can partner with retail and club customers
to offer more solutions and drive in-store traffic. Today, the
Curation Foods portfolio of 100% clean ingredient, plant-based
foods are sold throughout North America, including in all club
stores, 73% of all retail stores and a variety of foodservice
operators. “We are reimagining the way fresh,
plant-based foods are grown, prepared, delivered and ultimately
brought to the table,” said Hemmeter. “Curation Foods is uniquely
qualified to deliver innovative, plant-based products for consumers
throughout North America with a unified team of talented and
passionate employees and a unique set of capabilities that has been
cultivated over an extended period of time.”
Leveraging a geographically diverse set of growers and carefully
selected crop varieties for specific climates, Curation Foods is at
the forefront of innovating plant-based products, with the proven
ability to successfully launch new products and disrupt markets.
Curation Food’s fresh food supply chain, consisting of refrigerated
processing centers, distribution centers and its own fleet of
refrigerated trucks, allows the company to rapidly deliver fresh,
short shelf-life foods throughout North America, providing
customers and consumers the freshest, most nutritious food
possible. A direct sales force is focused on partnering
strategically with customers to deliver consumer and shopper
insights within the fresh perimeter of the store to enable growth
of not only the Curation Foods portfolio of products, but the
entire category.
As part of its commitment to providing widespread access to
fresh, nutritional foods, Curation Foods is supporting local
communities, donating to food banks and non-profit organizations
that promote youth and health through its StrongRoots® Program, and
launching its Good-to-Grow™ Program, an employee-led food truck
initiative to reach neighborhoods with limited access to fresh
food.
Curation Foods also champions sustainable growing, production
and distribution practices in the natural foods category. Ninety
percent of packaging is curbside recyclable and 80% of packaging is
made from renewable sources across all brands. Landec recently
invested in a $6.2 million water recycling facility that is
designed to purify water to specifications exceeding those of
drinking water. The Company set a goal of recycling 50% of its
water within the next few years. A summary of the Curation Foods
sustainability efforts can be found on the Curation Foods website
in the 2019 Curation Foods Sustainability Handbook.
“We are very excited about our new Curation Foods name and
completing the transition of our food business from a produce
business to a natural foods business. Curation Foods will continue
to evolve and grow, focusing on and investing in developing
profitable brands that meet the needs of consumers,” concluded
Hemmeter.
About Landec Corporation Landec Corporation
(Nasdaq: LNDC) is a leading innovator of diversified health and
wellness solutions with two operating businesses, Curation Foods
and Lifecore Biomedical. Curation Foods is focused on innovating
and distributing fresh, plant-based foods with 100% clean
ingredients through retail, club and foodservice channels. Curation
Foods is able to maximize product freshness through its
geographically dispersed family of growers, refrigerated supply
chain and patented BreatheWay® packaging technology to ensure
products reach consumers throughout North America in the freshest
possible state. Curation Foods brands include Eat Smart® fresh
packaged vegetables and salads, O Olive Oils and Vinegars®, Now
Planting® pure-plant meal solutions, and Yucatan® and Cabo Fresh®
avocado products. Lifecore Biomedical is a fully integrated
contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) that
offers expertise and capabilities in fermentation, specialty
formulation, aseptic filling and final packaging for FDA regulated
medical devices and drugs to customers for applications in a wide
array of markets including Ophthalmic, Orthopedic and Oncology. For
more information about the company, visit Landec’s website at
www.landec.com.
Contact: Mackenzie Woods(312)
929-0518Mwoods@talktocurrent.com
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