(Bloomberg) -- Manna Tree Partners, a Denver-based private equity firm focused on health investments, has acquired a majority stake in organic beef producer Verde Farms.
Verde Farms, founded in 2005, produces grass-fed, pasture-raised beef products sold at regional and national food stores including Target and BJ’s Wholesale Club. The financial terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed in a statement reviewed by Bloomberg News.
“For decades, we had a very carbohydrate-centric diet and now it has become a much more protein-centered diet,” Manna Tree Managing Partner Steve Young said in an interview. “Protein really is one of the fastest growing spaces within the food space and that’s why we think there’s a lot of room for growth for Verde Farms.”
Massachusetts-based Verde Farms, with $75 million in sales, is profitable, Young said. The so-called better-for-you beef market has grown 15% annually over the past five years to $4.4 billion, Manna Tree said in the statement, citing Nielsen data.
Verde Farms, since its founding almost 20 years ago, has seen the organic beef segment grow from a small niche to an “important and growing segment,” said Brad Johnson, who took over as chief executive officer last year.
Going forward, Manna Tree is looking to expand Verde Farms’ retail distribution and work on longer-term product innovations, Johnson said.
Manna Tree invests in companies that target health-conscious consumers, including snack producer New Primal and probiotic manufacturer Infinant Health, according to its website. One of its portfolio companies, Vital Farms, went public in 2020. The company’s shares have climbed 77% since then, giving the pasture-raised egg producer a market value of more than $1.64 billion.
Manna Tree made a $15 million minority equity investment in Verde Farms in 2020, according to a statement at the time. That year, the company raised a total of $25 million in a series A round.
(Updates with Manna Tree investments in seventh paragraph. The company’s retail distribution and the tenure of its CEO were corrected in an earlier version of this story.)
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