PBN 2023 Manufacturing Awards
EMERGING MANUFACTURER: Plants to Food LLC
THE DEMAND FOR PLANT-BASED FOODS has exploded in the past decade as people seek cleaner, healthier sources of nutrition. The popularity of veganism, especially among millennials, has been fueling that growth, with Lincoln-based manufacturer Plants to Food LLC being at the forefront of the movement.
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Company founder Scott Lively predicts the plant-based food market will reach $77.8 billion by 2025 and he plans for Plants to Food to be the de facto co-manufacturer for most plant-based products. With more than 25 years of experience, Plants to Food collaborates with businesses of all shapes and sizes to help them through the entire manufacturing process, including product formulation, testing, labeling, packaging and distribution.
The businesses that Plants to Food supports, such as Globowl, a producer of healthy baby food, are very appreciative of their relationship.
“Plants to Food is an incredible partner for us – and I mean the word partner in the truest sense of the word,” Globowl founder and CEO Erica Bethe Levin said. “Their organized and friendly team, their immaculate, state-of-the-art facility, and their rigid adherence to cleanliness and safety protocols make them the best in the business.”
Olivia Napoli, founder and CEO of LIVWELL Foods, a national producer of vegan and gluten-free family-friendly sauces, agreed. She said that Plants to Food has been an “exceptional manufacturing partner to us.” The company, Napoli said, has helped LIVWELL Foods scale its business nationally while helping it find supply chain and manufacturing efficiencies along the way.
“They are a pioneer in plant-based manufacturing, and frankly the best in the business,” Napoli said.
And when the plant-based food sector also has conglomerates Whole Foods Market Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. as customers, the sky is the limit.
Simply put, Plants to Food offers solutions. Lively said the company’s goal is to enhance a brand’s mission by offering expertise in manufacturing and by finding unique solutions that adhere to the highest safety and quality standards for exceptional value.
The company’s 150,000-square-foot facility located near North Central State Airport does it all. Plants to Food recently made a $300,000 expansion to its original warehouse by adding two specialized production rooms to make vegan artisanal cheeses.
Cheese is one of the biggest growth areas for the plant-based food industry. According to Lively, the global vegan cheese market is expected to grow at a rate of 12% per year.
“[That market] was at $2.43 billion in 2021. A large percentage of growth is among consumers with dairy issues,” Lively said.
When Plants to Food first opened its doors in 2022, it was only producing about 500 cashew-based cheeses per week. A year later, after adding more space and equipment, as well as building up its workforce, the company is now manufacturing 5,000 cheeses, 10 times its original output.
Another production room is currently being built at the Lincoln facility to manufacture vegan chocolate. Next year, company officials say Plants to Food will add an additional high-speed bottling line, allowing the company to work with Rhode Island-based beverage companies as their choice beverage co-packer.
Lively and his team are thankful for the support they’ve received from the state of Rhode Island, particularly the $2 million private equity loan, which the state backed. He credits the state with welcoming the company with open arms and providing valuable direction from the very beginning.
R.I. Commerce Secretary Elizabeth M. Tanner and Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos, who were given a tour of the facility earlier this year, also recognized Plants to Food as a successful example of a company receiving assistance through the Small Business Development Fund.
Plants to Food aspires to be the country’s largest vegan food manufacturer in the United States.
So, what’s next for the emerging manufacturer? More growth.
“We are launching a vegan commercial bakery,” Lively said, “as well as entering more custom processing agreements with a number of national brands.”
