Acquisition Puts Freshly Closer to Being in ‘Every Household’

Nestle’s recent acquisition of Freshly will help the fresh-prepared meal delivery service reach its goal of being in every household in the U.S., it said in a release. Currently, Freshly ships more than 1 million meals per week to customers in 48 states.

The deal, signed and closed on Oct. 30, values Freshly at $950 million, with potential earnouts up to $550 million contingent to the successful growth of the business. Freshly and Nestle’s business relationship dates back to 2017, when Nestle purchased about a 16% stake the business as a strategic move to evaluate and test the burgeoning market.

"We are extremely excited to expand our relationship with Nestle," said Freshly CEO Michael Wystrach in a release. "Our mission is to make eating healthy easy by bringing nutritious, high-quality meals directly to customers' homes. Convenience and nutrition are driving forces in the future of food, and our becoming a part of the world's largest food company confirms that. With Nestlé, we will have access to resources, research and development, and years of experience that we can tap into to catapult our growth plans and move closer to our goal of being in every household in America."

This move brings together Nestle’s deep understanding of what and how people eat at home with Freshly's highly specialized consumer analytics platform and distribution network to fuel growth opportunities for both companies.

Laurent Freixe, Nestlé CEO Zone Americas added, "At Nestlé we know the at-home food market and we know how to win there. With the acquisition of Freshly we are strengthening our position in the U.S. and expanding our ability to deliver a wide variety of delicious food to our consumers when and where they want,” said Laurent Freixe, Nestle CEO Zone Americas, in a release. “Whether purchasing our products from the comfort of their homes, in retail stores or through social commerce, we will continue to provide them with unbeatable convenience, choice and ease of purchase."

“Consumers are embracing e-commerce and eating at home like never before. It's an evolution brought on by the pandemic but taking hold for the long term,” Nestle USA Chairman and CEO Steve Presley added. "Freshly is an innovative, fast-growing, food-tech startup, and adding them to the portfolio accelerates our ability to capitalize on the new realities in the U.S. food market and further positions Nestlé to win in the future."