The Ugly Company’s Fruit Snacks
The California farmer-led producer of upcycled dried fruit snacks has completed a $9m Series A round of funding, which it will use to expand processing capacity to meet surging demand.
The funding round was led by Sun Valley Packing and Value Creation Strategies, along with the participation of pop star Justin Timberlake.
Founder and fourth generation farmer Ben Moore is proud the majority of the funding – like its ingredients – was sourced locally from the San Joaquin Valley.
“The millions of pounds of fruit that gets thrown away every day in Central California is heart-breaking,” said Moore.
“My dad is a farmer that raised me on the seat of a tractor, but it wasn't until I returned home from the army and working as a truck driver that I looked at food waste from a new perspective.
“I felt called to action to ensure every piece of fruit grown in the Valley is consumed by people, not landfills and livestock. This Series A funding is huge for us. We can finally address our infrastructure needs and expand sales nationally.”
Last year, The Ugly Company prevented more than 2.17m pounds of food waste by upcycling.
This year, it aims to turn 3m pounds of perfectly good fruit – which otherwise would have gone to waste, tossed or become cattle fodder – into dried fruit.
The popular snack portfolio currently includes dried cherries, peaches, white nectarines, apricots and kiwis that are all-natural, non GMO, single ingredient and grown under conditions that are good for the environment.
“My family invested in The Ugly Co. because we share Ben's passion for solving food waste at our farm,” said Casey Jones, CEO of Sun Valley Packing.
“We know that Ben has the hand-in-the-dirt, altruistic work ethic that it takes to solve this enormous problem.”
The Ugly Company snacks are available in Sprouts, Whole Foods, HyVee stores and select Kroger Banners across the US.
