November 21, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Founded in 2016 in partnership with private equity firm Trilantic North America, Boulder, Colorado-based Sunrise Strategic Partners (SSP) provides growth equity and expertise to emerging, authentic brands with $20-$50 million in revenue in the sustainable and healthy living space. 

Successful investments by SSP include Kodiak Cakes, which SSP helped raise revenue from $15 million to $200 million before divesting to L Catterton; Vital Farms, the largest U.S. producer of ethically and pasture-raised eggs and other products including butter, hard-boiled eggs, liquid whole eggs, butter, and ghee, which completed its IPO in 2020; CoolHaus; Pact; and Maple Hill Creamery.

Now, SSP announced the merger of Teton Waters Ranch (TWR) and SunFed Ranch to form Grass Fed Foods LLC, one of the largest grass-fed beef platforms in the U.S. 

SSP has been a lead investor in TWR, a provider of packaged meats made from grass fed, humanely raised animals since 2016, and it is this entity that will be combined with SunFed Ranch, a leader in domestic grass-fed beef in the form of boxed beef and case-ready options for steaks, grinds, patties, and other value-added cuts.

The overall global beef market is expected to reach a value of $383 billion by 2025, according to data from Grand View Research. Furthermore, the global sustainable and environmentally friendly food market is expected to reach a value of $170.5 billion by 2028. 

And while the conventional beef market posts growth generally in the low single digits, organic, global grass-fed beef sales have been seeing repeated years of double-digit growth, and grew by 13.81 percent in 2021. 

“We’re big supporters of grass fed beef and very pleased with the new Grass Fed Foods platform,” said Steve Hughes, co-founder, SSP. “Grass fed beef emphasizes products that are better for you, better for the planet, better for the cattle, and the ranchers who raise them. It’s an exciting time for the industry and we look forward to what’s ahead.”

This single platform represents one of the most comprehensive and convenient grass-fed solutions for retail and foodservice customers in the U.S., mitigating one of the major challenges faced by the grass-fed beef industry – fragmentation.

“For Grass Fed Foods, having SunFed Ranch and Teton Waters Ranch joined under one comprehensive grass fed beef platform is the first step in providing grocers and foodservice customers with access to a convenient, turnkey solution for grass fed beef products in the U.S.,” said Jeff Tripician, president & CEO, Grass Fed Foods.

It’s a savvy move to gain greater presence, given how demand in the U.S. continues to grow – in the single 12-month period from July 2020 – July 2021, U.S. grass-fed beef sales climbed 5 percent to reach $776 million, according to IRI. 

“The combination of Teton Waters Ranch and SunFed Ranch is very exciting, especially as we see more consumers seeking out grass fed beef,” said Vincent Love, co-founder and managing partner, SSP. “We look forward to continuing to work with Trip and the team to develop what we believe will be a leading industry platform.”

 ~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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