£9m secured by small ingredients supplier for ‘US expansion’

Plant-Ex ingredients will use the equity from BGF Investment to further drive its international expansion with a focus on the United States.

The 14-year-old Bristol, UK, based ingredients maker made its US debut in Chicago earlier this year, aiming to add the States to its international network already covering 50 countries including Poland and Turkey.

Changing ingredients trends in the US“The US drive is down to rising customer demand,” said Plant-Ex founder and CEO Giles Drewett. “Our business is now at £30m in revenue and we have production facilities in two countries to service multinational customers, who are looking for us to have a presence in other parts of the world to continue our service.”

The business, which employs 125 people worldwide, was already distributing from a facility south of Chicago, with plans to launch colours and flavours production capabilities there by mid-2025.

Changing consumer demand towards natural ingredients, rather than chemical or E numbers, was allowing Plant-Ex to expand in America, Drewett explained.

“Previously 50% of consumption was artificial in North America, but there’s a drive towards natural there and it’s really picking up,” he continued.

The States was usually ahead of Europe on food trends, however, when it comes to natural ingredients, the UK and Europe was ahead. The turn towards natural was being mostly led by multinational food and drink businesses, Drewett said.

Additional Plant-Ex Ingredients investments“We changed towards natural ingredients in Europe over 20 years ago, but some of the global brands in the States have started running with them and now health-conscious consumers are pushing it further in that direction,” he explained.

Additional investments in the year ahead included a 50,000 square foot site expansion in the UK, including a spray-drier and additional laboratories and production units.

“We’re also looking at a couple of acquisitions on the continent and in Asia,” Drewett revealed. “We’re looking to set the mark out now as one of the leading middle market players in natural and having that [£9m investment from BGF] means that we can do that.”