According to the company, in the last 12 months, the sales of fruitful jumbo blueberries have been tripled.
Source: Fruitful
Berry Unicorn Startup Fruitist has crossed $ 400 million in annual sales, thanks to the success of its long -lasting jumbo blueberry.
The company, which was established in 2012, announced on Tuesday that it was changing its name from Agrozon to Fruitist. It previously used the name to branding its consumer products, including raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.
According to pitchbook data, after increasing sales of its berries, the fruitist has increased more than $ 1 billion from external investors. Notable Backers include the family office of Ray Dalo, founder of Bridgewater Associates.
Fruitwadi is allegedly considering going publicly as soon as this year, even global trade conflicts hit shares and feared the global economic recession.
The company has tried to separate itself in a crowded place in the situation as a “snackable”. The snacking category has been one of the fastest growing in the food industry in recent years.
While many consumers still enjoy potato chips and pretzel, many large food companies have expanded their portfolio to include healthy options in recent years. Health Secretary Robert F with adopting GLP-1 drugs and “Make America Healthy Again”. The agenda published by Kennedy Junior has made a healthy snacking option even more attractive for both consumers and investors.
Today, fruitful berries can be found in more than 12,500 North American retailers, including Costco, Wal-mart And whole FoodsThe sale of its jumbo blueberry alone has been three times in the last 12 months, which led to the company’s growth.
Fix ‘Berry Rulet’
Fruitful co-founder and CEO Steve Mangagi
Source: Fruitful
Co-founder and CEO Steve Magami told CNBC that “Berry Roule” was made fruitful to solve the problem. This is what he calls the uneven quality of the berries of the grocery store, which he blames on the business model of heritage.
“You have a group of small producers who send their product to a packer, and the packer sends the product to an distributor or an importer, and then the player is selling either retailers or they are sending the product to another distributor, then to sell retailers,” Magmi said. “You have this dissatisfied price chain that prevents quality.”
To sell more berries of high consistent quality, the company increases its fruit into microclimates, with its fields in Oregon, Morocco, Romania and Mexico. It also uses a machine learning model to take the best time to take fruits. Fruitwritis invested heavy in the infrastructure, such as cold storage on the site to keep the berries fresh before the ship.
The company’s vertical integrated supply chain means that its berries should last longer than the competition.
“I deliberately let him sit in his refrigerator for three weeks, and he is still great after three weeks,” said Magami.
Large berries like the company’s jumbo blueberry, which are two to three times the size of a regular blueberry, also a long shelf life.
Looking forward, the fruitist plans to expand into the cherry. The company is now growing them on their Chile’s fields and planning to start shipping them in the next season, meaning that they can land in grocery stores in early 2026.
Magami said that the company has invested more than $ 600 million for a year -long berries and created a global footprint that is spread over North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia.
To date, the fruitist has spent very little of the money raised on marketing, although it is scheduled to change. In February, Major League Soccer Team DC United announced a multiaier deal with the company, including a special sleeve patch partnership.
Tariffs and public plans
A push for public recognition may come as an initial public offering.
In January, Bloomberg told The company was soon becoming public as June. Magami refused to comment on the report to CNBC.
If the fruitist decides to go publicly, it will enter a public market that has achieved mixed results for new shares in recent years.
Huge yield Dole out Returned to public markets In 2021. The company’s shares have increased by 14% compared to the previous year, in the same period the profit of 2% of S&P 500 has been increased. The market price of Dole, which reported an annual revenue of $ 2.2 billion last year, is $ 1.3 billion.
However, the upheaval of the market caused by the trade wars of the White House to delay many companies, such as Clarna and Stubhub, publicity. But investors are interested in consumer companies with strong growth; Chinese tea chain shares Chase 15% climbed At the beginning of the company’s public market on Thursday.
Business stress introduces other challenges for a global yield company. chairman Donald Trump By the beginning of July, the new tariff rates on imports from most countries have reduced the rates to only 10%, but it is not clear what can happen after that time limit. India, where it owns 20 hectares to grow blueberries, for example, is facing 26% duty.
Nevertheless, Magami said that the company is expecting a “minimum impact” from duties, given that it has been investing in American production over the years.
“We are optimistic about how it will play,” he said. “We do not import to compete with domestic supply, we actually provide 52 weeks.”
Fortunately for fruitful, the tariff rate is prescribed when domestic berries are in weather.
