Why We Invested In The Nu Co
- Investments
Snacking 2.0: Saving the planet, one Snack at a time.
The Nu Co: the next generation snacking company tackling the confectionary industry’s 3 key challenges: sugar, plastic, and CO2 emissions
One need only look at today’s snacking incumbents fighting over the likes of Eat Natural, Grenade, Perfect Snacks Bars – and other healthier versions of the once blindly consumed sugary snacks – to see that this $188Bn global market1 is undergoing a revolution! Not only do the ever more demanding modern consumers (millennials and Gen-Z ahead) snack more than ever, they now also crave snacks that make them feel good2 through a combination of nutrition, functionality, sustainability, and indulgence.
Why the Nu Co Caught Our Appetite
With cocoa among the top 5 contributors to CO2 emissions, we at Five Seasons Ventures were convinced that chocolate was the right platform to build an impactful snacking brand and have been on the lookout for the gem that could deliver on sustainability and health promises without losing out on taste and convenience (because we all know that taste is King in food, and convenience is Queen, especially in the impulse-driven snacking category).
The Nu Co caught our appetite due to its unique positioning tackling the confectionary industry’s 3 biggest challenges: high sugar content in products, high plastic consumption (due to pre-portioned snacks size), and the negative impact cocoa (and other key ingredients such as sugar) has on CO2 emissions. And extra bonus points: they manage to sell about 30% of their products online, something that we have never seen in snacking before.
Chocolate is just the start: Building a Snacking Platform
The Nu Co flagship products, its chocolate bars, rely on 65% less sugar than your average snack bar and are enhanced with healthy fats thanks to omega-3 and amino acids-rich hemp seeds and nuts. These build up your anti-inflammatory system and improve muscle building, all the while offering long-lasting satiety. Eating chocolate without the guilt… sounds like a dream come true….?
And things get even tastier because chocolate bars are just the beginning. The company today has 3 product lines that are all challenging a popular sweet snack with a better alternative: Nu+Cao (the chocolate, our favourite), Nu+Move (fitness food, including vegan protein bars), and Nu+Flow (functional food, like seed bars). The team continues to add new flavours and SKUs within these lines and, on top of that, creates trendy seasonal products (like the sustainably sourced easter bunny that sold out in 2 days). Keep on snacking!
Impact-first, one snack at a time
On top of taste and nutrition, the NuCo keeps ticking the boxes off the demanding millennials’ list. In addition to all packaging being made of 100% home-compostable foil, the company also plants 1 mangrove tree (known for its ability to store carbon) for every bar purchased. Their ultimate target is to plant 1 billion trees by 2030, and already 4 million have been planted so far! We are proud to back the purpose-driven co-founders – three industrial engineers Mathias, Thomas, and Christian – who complement each other in terms of skills, yet share the strong vision of becoming the leading next generation food brand. One snack at a time.
As investors in the Nu Company’s €10m Series A round, we are ready and excited to embark on this impactful journey and look forward to supporting the team [Mathias, Christian, Thomas] in championing the tastiest and most sustainable food brand in Europe!
#foodforanuworld #impact
1 Global confectionery market size in 2020, Fortune Business Insights
2 Innovation and Insight Director at Mintel, 2020