Wicked Kitchen® reels in a 'Good Catch®' with acquisition of leading plant-based seafood brand

Pivotal brands join forces in shared mission to improve the lives of humans and animals by offering the widest variety of animal-free products with broad appeal

NEW YORK, September 08, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Two chef-driven consumer packaged goods brands Wicked Kitchen and Good Catch are making a splash in the industry today by announcing Wicked's acquisition of the premier plant-based seafood brand's North American channels. The deal will extend Wicked Kitchen's multi-category plant-based offerings to frozen and ambient seafood products enhancing the company's expansive portfolio of meal solutions and ingredients.

The two purpose-driven brands, both co-founded by brothers and pioneering chefs, Chad Sarno and Derek Sarno are coming together to support one mission: creating amazing foods that work towards improving the environment and the lives of humans, animals, and sea life by inspiring the world to eat more plants.
"By folding Good Catch's plant-based seafood offerings into Wicked Kitchen's North American footprint we will have the largest variety of animal-free consumer packaged goods in the industry available at more than 30,000 distribution points," said Pete Speranza, CEO, Wicked Kitchen. "The two brands' product lines complement each other and are 100% accretive, and the breadth of products across departments – from appetizers to desserts and everything in between – allows us to provide great-tasting food that appeals to everyone."

Today at a presentation entitled "Wicked" Case Study: How Wicked Kitchen Keeps Growing (and Why They Don't Plan to Slow Down), Speranza will share the company's growth strategy including more details about the acquisition. He will join Suzy Richard, plant-based expert from SPINS, at 12:45 ET at Plant Based World Expo at the Javits Center.

Wicked Kitchen will take over Good Catch's brand in North America under Speranza's leadership. This will allow for more opportunities to ramp up product innovation, research, and development as well as food service with Chad Sarno at the helm. With its regional and national food service and restaurant partnerships, including a previous alignment with Long John Silvers, Good Catch brings seasoned expertise to help accelerate Wicked Kitchen's presence in that category.
"When creating Wicked Kitchen and Good Catch, our goal for both brands was to develop culinary-driven, industry-changing products that would challenge the way consumers think about their food choices and experiences," said Chad Sarno, who will be the chief culinary officer for both brands. "By coming together as one team and one mission, we will have a broader positive impact."

While the two brands will prioritize working together on product innovations that are always animal-free, particularly in the frozen and ambient foods categories, they will continue to operate business as usual in terms of branding, current product availability, distribution, and fulfillment.

In the all-stock transaction, Gathered Foods, the parent company of Good Catch, will become a shareholder of Wicked and will gain a seat on the company's board. Gathered will focus on its core strength in the development and production of exceptional and innovative plant-based proteins.

"Gathered Foods is a leading pioneer in plant-based proteins," said Chris Kerr, Gathered's executive chair. "Wicked's greatest strength is consumer reach, branding, and most importantly, culinary delight. Together, this is an outstanding path forward allowing both companies to bring their greatest strengths to the consumer market. This partnership with Wicked is the first of several steps Gathered is taking in this direction."

Founded in 2017 and launching in U.K.'s Tesco a year later, Wicked Kitchen exploded into the U.S. market in 2021 and is poised to continue its meteoric rise with more than 40 products offered at U.S. retailers. Good Catch has exponentially grown its retail footprint as well since entering the market in 2019, allowing consumers throughout North America to enjoy its innovative plant-based seafood offerings.

In the last year, Wicked Kitchen has tripled its distribution from Tesco to more than 6,500 retail stores in the U.S., as well as Finland, Estonia, and this fall, the brand is launching in Thailand. Currently, the brand is offering products at Kroger and its national banners, at Sprouts Farmers Market stores, and it recently launched into Giant, Publix, and 7-Eleven stores.

Good Catch products are sold nationwide in the U.S. at leading retailers including Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Giant, and, in nearly 500 Tesco stores in the U.K. The products are also sold under the Swell Catch brand in Canada.

"By bringing Wicked Kitchen and Good Catch together, we are incredibly excited to embrace being true thought leaders in the plant-based space with our approach of creating culinary-forward foods with broad appeal for all to enjoy," added Speranza.

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About Wicked Kitchen
Wicked Kitchen is a chef-founded, mission-based global brand inspiring the world to eat more plants – for the planet, the animals and the people. Created by brothers and chefs Chad Sarno and Derek Sarno, the brand provides one of the largest chef-created, plant-based product offerings globally with a wide selection of convenient meals, sauces, snacks, desserts, and cooking ingredients. Wicked's products are available in the U.S., U.K., Finland and Estonia, and will be launching in Thailand this fall. For more information about Wicked Kitchen, visit WickedKitchen.com. For ongoing news and updates, follow Wicked Kitchen on Facebook and Instagram.

About Good Catch®
Good Catch products offer the taste, texture, and eating experience of seafood without harming the environment. Good Catch products include single-serve, ready-to-eat pouches of Plant-Based Tuna and frozen Plant-Based Salmon Burgers, Fish Burgers, New England Style Crab Cakes, Thai Style Fish Cakes, Breaded Fish Sticks, Breaded Fish Fillets and Breaded Crab Cakes, available in retailers across the US and Canada, with growing food service partners and wider distribution planned. Visit GoodCatchFoods.com and follow @goodcatchfoods on Facebook and Instagram.

About Gathered Foods
Founded by Chris Kerr alongside long-time friends and business partners, Chefs Chad Sarno and Derek Sarno, Gathered Foods includes five core business units covering the full spectrum of the plant-based foods value chain; Cultivated Food Labs (R&D), Gathered Proteins (proprietary plant-based protein library), Trellis Manufacturing (plant-based protein production), the Culinary Food Lab in Austin, Texas, and the Good Catch brand, named PETA's 2021 Company of the Year.

Media Contact

Kate Lowery, Wicked Kitchen, 1 5126570925, kate@apccollective.com

SOURCE Wicked Kitchen