Asia’s first and largest healthy food chain SaladStop! Group announced today (November 15) that it has closed a S$12 million series B investment round led by Temasek.
The round was oversubscribed, and saw participation from new investors Vulcan Capital, K3 Ventures and East Ventures, as well as existing investor DSG Consumer Partners.
Founded in 2009 by father and son Daniel and Adrien Desbaillets, co-headed by daughter Katherine and son-in-law Frantz Braha, the Group has sought to disrupt the traditional fast food model, and has pioneered delivering healthy, nutritious menus to customers across Asia.
The family business was first founded in Singapore and currently operates 69 outlets across eight markets — Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, and Spain — with over 800 employees.
The SaladStop! Group brands include SaladStop!, Heybo, Wooshi and GoodFoodPeople across a hybrid online-offline model.
SaladStop! aims to become the leading personalised nutrition company in Asia through the extensive deepening of the Group’s existing footprint via new cloud kitchens, fostering more tech-enabled growth with its proprietary technologies, and leveraging its deeply embedded ecosystem of foodtech partners.
Will launch in four new countries by 2025
Adrien Desbaillets, CEO and co-founder of SaladStop! Group described this fundraising round as a “major milestone” for the Group.
Covid-19 has accelerated the Group’s push to digital, with over 50 per cent of sales today generated online and a substantial proportion through the Group’s direct channels.
“The pandemic demonstrated the resilience of our business across all markets and accelerated our push online. Fuelled by innovative and proprietary technologies, a network of cloud kitchens and a new generation of transparent, tech-enabled and scalable health food brands, we are excited to be partnering with such strategic and value-aligned investors to dramatically scale the business to new heights,” he said.
This new injection of funds will be used to accelerate the Group’s digital transformation as well as deepen the Group’s expansion across Asia.
It is looking to enter four new countries by 2025, and build out into second-tier cities through the continued expansion of its cloud kitchen model.
“We have built an extensive infrastructure across the region over the past few years and will continue to leverage our technological capabilities and proprietary cloud kitchen operating model to accelerate our growth in emerging markets,” said Frantz Braha, Chief Growth Officer of SaladStop! Group.
Today, SaladStop! Group caters to an addressable market of 69 million people across 11 cities and aims to serve over 20 million meals by 2025.
Pursuing its mission to build a food solution for the future, SaladStop! will accelerate its investment into food sustainability, focusing on ingredient traceability and opening of the group’s first net zero outlet in 2022, aligning with Singapore’s 30×30 goals.
The Group has already launched multiple initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint, including offering plant-based foods, sustainably sourced ingredients, green packaging, supporting reforestation programs, and being the first and only business in Asia to allow customers to carbon offset their meal.
Earlier this month, SaladStop! launched Good Food People, a new plant-based online grocer, which offers the largest selection of meat alternative proteins in Singapore as well as ready to heat options and homemade sauces, dressings, and other items.
“As the first healthy food chain in Asia, we want to drive change in the food industry, especially at this challenging time, given not only the effects of the pandemic on people’s health and wellbeing, but also with the current disruption on supply chains and the extraordinary threat posed by climate change,” said Katherine Desbaillets Braha, Chief Brand Officer of SaladStop! Group.
“Our family has been on a mission to empower our customers to understand and measure the full impact of their food choices, not only on their health, but on the health of the planet.”
Get $20 off your order on VP Label when you checkout with Pace and the code PACEVP20 (min spend $80). Discover and shop exciting homegrown brands now:
Featured Image Credit: SaladStop! via Facebook
