The plant-forward brands are betting on 10+ years of quality-centric innovation to get better products to market, fast.
Woodland Park, NJ - Splendid Spoon has acquired Mosaic Foods alongside an undisclosed investment from Gather Ventures. The two brands have driven over $190M in cumulative revenue through their direct-to-consumer offerings and are combining to satisfy surging demand for healthier food through a 'full-stack better-for-you' business model.
The merger unites Splendid Spoon's innovation and branding capabilities with Mosaic Foods' in-house commercialization and manufacturing. With over 200 plant-based and vegetarian meals, snacks and beverages, Splendid Spoon Inc now offers one of the most robust lineups of vegetarian and plant-forward ready-made products. The founders, with over 10 years of food startup experience, are redefining how to scale convenience for health-conscious consumers increasingly selective about their food choices.
"The current manufacturing landscape lacks expertise in the most critical stage for determining product-market fit: commercialization. The early sub-4000-unit manufacturing runs reveal whether product quality will differentiate you in a competitive landscape," says co-CEO Elise Densborn. "We've spent over 10 years innovating plant-forward products for discerning D2C consumers and we’re thrilled to scale these learnings for the growing fast-fine food service space. Our process balances human touch with automation—it's faster and more successful without sacrificing quality," adds co-CEO Nicole Centeno.
The vertically integrated hub, located 20 miles outside NYC in Woodland Park, NJ, has developed and validated over 100 SKUs for specialty food, organic restaurant chains and private label, with bespoke capabilities for new entrants launching healthy, plant-forward meals into retail.
"Consumers want higher quality—more vegetables, cleaner ingredients, great flavor, and convenience. Yet, with inflation pressuring manufacturing and distribution costs, the barrier to entry has never been higher. If food brands are forced to choose between product integrity and scale, then consumers lose. BFY commercialization has to be done differently, and that’s what we’re here for," says Densborn.
Customer Laurent Francois, co-founder and CEO of organic restaurant group Le Botaniste, notes: "Consistency and quality have always come first as we expand. Partnering with Mosaic and Splendid Spoon is the natural next phase in our growth. Our values align, and they provide fresh, organic, high-quality products that support our growth while allowing us to focus on operations. Having lived through similar scaling challenges, they're perfectly equipped to support us with care and empathy. We’re truly grateful for their collaboration and expertise."
"This merger brings together what we built separately—Splendid scaled customer demand through innovative products, Mosaic fine-tuned efficient R&D and production," says Centeno. "We're positioned for a groundswell of demand for fresh, vegetable-centric innovation. By breaking down go-to-market barriers for disruptive brands and restaurants, we'll multiply access to better food products."
That groundswell may be imminent: According to Mintel, only 35% of global CPG launches in early 2023 were new products—the lowest since tracking began in 1996. The last innovation dip followed the 2008-09 financial crisis, which sparked major category disruption from brands like Harry's, OLIPOP and Glossier.
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