FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Natural Food Company Lands $8.3 Million to Meet Growing Demand for Probiotics
SAN FRANCISCO – April 5, 2007 – Attune Foods, a California-based natural foods company dedicated to creating great tasting products that promote daily wellness, today announced that it has secured $8.3 million in series B funding. New investors include Fonterra Ltd., LSP BioVentures and Nestlé, along with original investors Burrill & Company, Great Spirit Ventures, Prolog Ventures and Unilever Ventures.
“With its strong management team and breakthrough products, Attune is one of the most exciting opportunities we’ve seen in building our health and wellness investment portfolio,” said Ilya Nykin, a managing director of Prolog Ventures and chairman of the company’s board of directors. “Attune is capitalizing on one of the biggest health trends – probiotics – to change consumers’ approach to daily wellness.”
The financing builds on the strong momentum Attune has experienced since its retail launch in January 2007 with a line of chocolate and yogurt & granola daily wellness bars featuring probiotics, beneficial active cultures found to support digestive health and promote a strong immune system. The company is led by former Niman Ranch CEO Rob Hurlbut, who grew that business from a $3 million regional meat purveyor to a $60 million national brand known for its sustainable practices.
“Consumer response to our chocolate and granola wellness bars has far exceeded our expectations, especially in the first quarter,” said Hurlbut. “This support from our investors will enable us to scale up to meet the growing demand for products like Attune that deliver a truly efficacious dose of probiotics in a portable, proprietary form that’s also delicious.”
Attune Foods is one of four companies launched by Brand New Brands, an innovation accelerator dedicated to improving and enhancing Americans’ lives through the creation of next-generation healthful foods and beverages. Brand New Brands’ investors – Burrill & Company, Great Spirit Ventures, Prolog Ventures and Unilever Ventures – participated in the company’s initial launch.
“Attune Foods and all Brand New Brands companies fit the emerging landscape for food – as a tool for wellness as well as nourishment,” said William Rosenzweig, CEO of Brand New Brands and managing director of Physic Ventures, a fund that focuses on health, wellness and sustainable living companies. “They present a model for all new food companies moving forward.”
Probiotics have long been featured in functional foods and beverages in Europe and Asia. In the United States, the market for foods and beverages with probiotics is only just beginning to grow. Probiotic foods and beverages are currently estimated to be a $210 million market with an estimate to reach $400 million by 2010 . In a recent Washington Post article, products with probiotics were ranked as one of the “top five foods that people say they want to add to their diets.”
Attune Wellness Bars are currently available at Whole Foods Markets and online at www.attunefoods.com.
About Attune Foods, Inc.
Contacts: Jennifer Giambroni
415-277-4910
2 S. Squires, Tiny Additions to Diet May Pay Off Big-Time (Washington Post, February 27, 2007)