Close Ad

The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Daring Foods

Daring Receives $8 Million For Expansion, New Product To Launch Soon

Daring , which makes plant-based chicken pieces, announced today that it raised an $8 million Series A round of funding. The round was led by Maveron, with participation from goodFriends, Stray Dog Capital, PalmTree Crew Investments. Private investors include Mike Smith (CFO of Stitch Fix) and Brian Swette (former Chair of Burger King). To date, Daring has roughly raised $12 million in funding.

I spoke on the phone with Ross Mackay, CEO and co-founder of Daring, this week, who told me the funding will be put towards marketing efforts, and used to grow the Daring team. Additionally, the money will assist in their new product launch of plant-based breaded chicken pieces, which will be released next month. 

The chicken pieces are made from soy protein, as well as sunflower oil and a spice blend. Soy is not necessarily a unique ingredient in the plant-based space, but Mackay emphasized that their product is unique due to its “clean label” and simple ingredients. Daring chicken is made with non-GMO ingredients, and their current chicken flavors include original, cajun, and lemon herb. 

Mackay said on our call that many plant-based meat companies are focusing on creating red meat alternative products, but Daring is “laser-like focused” on plant-based chicken products. Plant-based beef does get a lot of attention, however, there are several other companies that make plant-based chicken products. Rebellyous Foods and Nuggs both make plant-based chicken nuggets, and UK-based THIS creates chicken pieces and nuggets. Beyond Meat partnered with KFC this summer to release plant-based chicken sandwiches at 50 locations through Southern California.

Daring chicken is available direct-to-consumer on the company’s website starting at $29.99 for a 32oz pouch, and also in Sprouts Farmers Markets. Starting October 1st, Daring’s chicken will be made available in Gelson’s Markets, Bristol Farms, and Fresh Thymes Marketplace. Daring has also partnered with Just Salad, located on the East Coast, and the plant-based chicken pieces will soon be launched in 36 of its locations.

 Disclaimer: I work as an independent scout for Stray Dog Capital and was not aware of Stray Dog Capital’s investment prior to the press release. Stray Dog’s participation did not influence the reporting of this story.

Daring Foods Brings ‘Plant-based Chicken 2.0’ to U.S., Gets $10M Investment

Yesterday, Daring Foods, a startup that makes plant-based chicken, announced it is partnering with foodservice protein supplier Rastelli Foods Group to enter the U.S. market. Rastelli will invest $10 million in Daring in a deal that’s part finance and part infrastructure. The supplier will also have the exclusive rights to sell Daring Foods’ products to restaurants and retailers.

Daring Foods was founded three years ago in Scotland as a clean-label alternative to one of the world’s favorite meats: chicken. The startup began selling their Daring Pieces, which contain 14 grams of protein per serving, in the U.K. earlier this year. They have since relocated to be based out of New York and are pivoting to focus on the U.S. as their core market in the wake of the Rastelli deal.

Daring makes its bite-size signature meatless chicken from only five ingredients: soy, water, sunflower oil, salt, and natural flavoring. Daring’s co-founder and CEO Ross Mackay believes that this clean-label approach, along with their product’s realistic taste, will help the company stand out amongst competitors. “It’s plant-based chicken 2.0,” he said.

The deal with Rastelli will also certainly help. Mackay explained that Daring can tap into the distributor’s nationwide connections in the U.S. to ramp up and forge distribution partnerships very quickly.

Quite quickly, as it turns out. Daring Foods will begin rolling out its Daring Pieces nationwide in February 2020. Mackay told me that Daring is also developing new flavor profiles for its Pieces, including lemon & herb, as well as larger breast cuts. 

Chicken seems to be the next big faux meat, and plenty of companies are jostling to become the Beyond Meat of bird (including Beyond Meat itself). Seattle’s Rebellyous sells its plant-based nuggets wholesale to cafeterias, and NUGGS delivers its meat-free nuggets directly to consumers’ doorsteps. Swiss startup Planted makes plant-based chicken from four ingredients, though those won’t be available in the U.S. anytime soon.

Big Meat is also getting in on the alternative chicken craze: Tyson debuted its Raised & Rooted meatless chicken nuggets earlier this year, and Purdue’s new Chicken Plus is a blend of chicken and plant protein.

It’s too early to say if Daring’s products will taste good enough to stand out in the crowd of plant-based chicken options out there. But with the company set to enter the U.S. market next year, we’ll certainly have ample opportunity to put them to the test.