News: Rotherham superfood producer acquired in £17m deal

A Rotherham-based producer of superfoods has been acquired in an international deal.

Go Superfoods Ltd. which is based in Dinnington and trades as Green Origins, Rainforest Foods and Puira, has been bought by Humble Group - a Swedish food-tech and FMCG-group, supplying the next generation of products that are good for people and the planet.

The purchase price amounts to approximately SEK 209.5 million (£16.9m).

G0 Superfoods was started in 2009 by Hardip Singh after completing an MBA when he chose the superfood sector due to personal interest, the growth potential, and the opportunity to work with producers from around the world.

A producer and supplier of premium organic and ecological superfood products, customers include specialist and nutrition retailers, distributors, food manufacturers and private consumers with approximately 80 per cent recurring revenues.

In 2018, the company won the Queen’s Award for International Trade for its outstanding overseas sales growth and 35% of the company’s sales pertain to exports.

Sales are expected to hit £20m for 2022.

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Harry Singh, CEO and founder of Go Superfoods (who has agreed to stay on for three years), said: "I am delighted to announce that Go Superfoods will be joining the Humble family. At Go Superfoods we’ve always strived to be a bridge connecting growers of superfoods in the developing world with European consumers looking to improve their health and wellbeing. Humble are the perfect partner for us to continue our journey with and we look forward to working with Simon and his team at Humble to accomplish our shared vision.”

Simon Petrén, CEO of Humble Group, added: "We are incredibly excited to welcome Harry Singh and the Go Superfoods team to Humble. Through the transaction, we will enter a new niche market segment in which the company has established itself as a competitive multi-channel supplier and as a strong own brand.

"In addition, we continue to increase our product offering of climate smart and healthy products. There is a huge market potential within the superfoods segment and we look forward to assist the Company in broadening its sales channels and increasing its brand exposure in Humble’s key markets. Sustainability is the core of the Company’s business and products, and it is truly gratifying to share our vision together with the Go Superfoods team and keep offering consumers and companies innovative and market leading “better for you” products."

Humble, which is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm, has built up a group of entrepreneurial companies where total net sales went over £300m in 2021.

Rämsell Advokatbyrå AB is the Swedish legal advisor and Shoosmiths is the local legal advisor to Humble in connection with the transaction. Carbon Corporate Finance is the local financial advisor and Pannone Corporate LLP is the local legal advisor to Go Superfoods in connection with the transaction.

Rainforest Foods website
Humble Group website

Images: Green Origins

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News: Great Taste Awards for Rotherham firm

Superfoods from a Rotherham firm have been rocgnised with prestigious Great Taste Awards for 2020.

Out of 12,777 products sent in from 106 different countries, GO Superfoods Ltd, which trades as Green Origins and Rainforest Foods, has been awarded 1-star awards for two of its products.

Organised by the Guild of Fine Food, Great Taste is the world's largest and most trusted food and drink awards. Companies put food or drink to the test with a panel of over 500 experts as a quick way to get honest, straightforward and impartial feedback from chefs, buyers, food writers and retailers.

This year's winners have been found through a combination of remote judging and socially distanced judging sessions, after the lockdown began just one week into the schedule.

Based at Dinnington, the firm is a manufacturer and wholesaler of dietary supplements made from the finest of nature's foods.

Rainforest Food Bambeanies Super Crispies were launched last year and are made from all-natural, responsibly sourced ingredients – a blend of beans, rice, coconut flour and baobab, sweetened with coconut blossom nectar and apple juice that is shaped and baked.

A bowl of the vegan alternative cereal provides 11% less sugar than Rice Krispies, as well as 285% more fibre, 85% more protein and 98% less salt.

Also gaining recognition was the Organic 70% Dark Chocolate Drops with Turmeric and Maca made for allergen free brand, Before Chocolate.

Through Green Origins, the Rotherham firm operates a "Private Label" service where it manufactures products for start-up companies through to multinational blue chip organisations.

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The judges comments for the chocolate included: "What a stunning aroma of rich dark decadent chocolate, followed by hints of earthy turmeric spice and brassica scents from the maca. The flavour profile delivers sweet dark cacao along with turmeric and maca, and the coconut sugar lightens the bitter notes from the single origin chocolate."⁠

⁠ "Subtly sweet, gently spicy, and deeply satisfying, these little gems melt in the mouth leaving a long, lingering and lively taste. Dissolved in hot milk, they would produce a very comforting and soothing bedtime drink, we're sure, or they would make the most delicious choc chip cookie with a difference."⁠

The products can now display a badge of honour, the unmistakeable black and gold Great Taste label is a signpost to an outstanding product, which has been discovered through hours and hours of blind tasting.

GO Superfoods was started in 2009 by Hardip Singh after completing an MBA when he chose the superfood sector due to personal interest, the growth potential, and the opportunity to work with producers from around the world.

In 2018, the company won the Queen’s Award for International Trade for its outstanding overseas sales growth.

Rainforest Foods website

Images: Before Chocolate

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News: Three Rotherham firms win Queen's Awards for Enterprise

Three Rotherham-based companies have won a Queen's Award for Enterprise recognising their outstanding achievements in international trade.

Now in its 52nd year, the Queen's Awards for Enterprise is the most prestigious business award in the country, with winners recognised as being among the best in the country and able to use the esteemed Queen's Awards emblem for the next five years.

A record 152 businesses have received Queen's Awards in the international trade category including Central Wire Industries UK Ltd, a specialty alloy wire manufacturer.

The CWI UK production facility in the Greasbrough Road area of Rotherham supplies profile wire internationally to companies involved in a wide range of industries and markets.

It specialises in very high quality stainless steel and nickel alloy wires used in demanding applications by many major companies involved in oil & gas, petrochemical, chemical, pulp & paper and water filtration.

In 2015, Canada's Central Wire Industries (CWI) acquired Rotherham-based Hempel Wire for an undisclosed sum. Hempel had recently purchased certain trademarks, trade names, and intellectual property from Fox Wire Limited in neighboring Sheffield. Included in this transaction were the rights to the SUPA family of alloys, including SUPA 75.

The firm dates back to when it was founded in Rotherham in 1983, and with the support of the Hempel family, H.A.Watson quickly established itself as a quality producer of stainless steel round wires.

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Another Rotherham-based winner for 2018 is GO Superfoods Ltd, which trades as Green Origins and Rainforest Foods.

The Dinnington firm is a manufacturer and wholesaler of premium supplements and superfoods such as Acai, Hemp seed, Maca, Maqui berry, Spirulina and Wheatgrass.

GO Superfoods previously won the same prestigious award in 2016 which recognised rapid growth in turnover which almost quadrupled over a three-year period. About half of the turnover is overseas trade.

More awards followed in 2017 when Green Origins was awarded 2 star awards in the Great Taste Awards for its Bee Pollen, Cacao Butter and Virgin Coconut Oil and 1 star awards for its Baobab Powder, Cacao Nibs, Cacao Powder and Hemp Seeds.

Rainforest Foods was awarded 1 star awards for its Organic New Zealand Wheatgrass Powder and Organic Maca Powder.

The third Rotherham winner is SBD Apparel, a UK manufacturer of premium supports and apparel for strength and fitness training.

Worn by elite athletes globally, the brand was founded to design and produce market-leading performance products in conjunction with a team of elite athletes, coaches and health professionals.

Founder Ben Banks, a former powerlifting competitor, developed better products and SBD is now a globally recognised brand, used by the majority of competitors at strongman events such as the World's Strongest Man (WSM).

SBD took space at the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham in 2016, after the development of the SBD Belt which features a Patent Pending fastening mechanism combining the adjustability of a prong belt with the quick operation and tightness of a lever. It combines a high quality leather strap and a cast aluminium alloy buckle.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said: "The UK has some of the most entrepreneurial and innovative minds in the world delivering jobs, growth and greater choice for consumers and I am proud to see a wealth of these businesses being recognised today.

"Small businesses are the backbone of our economy – 99% of UK firms are small and over 1,000 new businesses start every day. Through our Industrial Strategy we are building a Britain in which they will continue to thrive."

CWI UK website
Rainforest Foods website
SBD Apparel website

Images: CWI / Go Superfoods / SBD

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News: Rotherham firm wins nine Great Taste awards

A Rotherham manufacturer and wholesaler of dietary supplements has won a total of nine Great Taste awards for its exotic products.

Based at Dinnington, GO Superfoods Ltd trades as Green Origins and Rainforest Foods and supplies in bulk and private label. It searches the world for nature's finest foods; travelling across continents in pursuit of 100% pure, ethically-sourced superfoods, with exceptionally high nutritional profiles. Premium products include Acai, Hemp seed, Maca, Maqui berry, Spirulina and Wheatgrass.

The quality of the products has now been recognised with a stamp of excellence from Great Taste, widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers.

Organised by the Guild of Fine Food, that awards value taste above all else, with no regard for branding or packaging. Whether it is gin, biscuits, sausages or coffee being judged, all products are removed from their wrapper, jar, box or bottle before being tasted. The judges then savour, confer and re-taste to decide which products are worthy of a 1-, 2- or 3-star award.

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Green Origins has been awarded 2 star awards for its Bee Pollen, Cacao Butter and Virgin Coconut Oil and 1 star awards for its Baobab Powder, Cacao Nibs, Cacao Powder and Hemp Seeds.

Rainforest Foods has been awarded 1 star awards for its Organic New Zealand Wheatgrass Powder and Organic Maca Powder.

Over 500 judges came together at 62 judging days earlier this year. The panel of judges included; chef, food writer and author, Gill Meller, MasterChef judge and restaurant critic, Charles Campion, author and Zoe's Ghana Kitchen chef, Zoe Adjonyoh, baker, Tom Herbert, and food writer and baking columnist, Martha Collison, as well as food buyers from Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges, and Harvey Nichols.

The Great Taste Awards were established in 1994 and the independent accreditation enables small food and drink businesses to compete against supermarket premium own label brands.

A record breaking 12,336 different products were entered in 2017, with 4,347 winning awards.

GO Superfoods Ltd picked up a Queen's Award for International Trade for its outstanding overseas sales growth in 2016. About half of the company's turnover is overseas trade and there has been rapid growth, with turnover almost quadrupling in the three-year period. The firm has also seen a trebling in profits and an increase in staff numbers from four to 23.

Started in 2009 by Hardip Singh after completing an MBA, he chose the superfood sector due to personal interest, the growth potential, and the opportunity to work with producers from around the world.

Green Origins website
Rainforest Foods website

Images: Rainforest Foods

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News: Go Superfoods wins Queen's Award for International Trade

A Rotherham manufacturer and wholesaler of dietary supplements made from the finest of nature's foods, has been awarded a Queen's Awards for International Trade - considered the highest official UK awards for British businesses.

Based at Dinnington, GO Superfoods Ltd trades as Green Origins and Rainforest Foods, and has built a solid growth strategy based on good market research developing a business model to capitalise on that insight which has led to them winning the Queen’s Award for International Trade for its outstanding overseas sales growth.

The firm is a manufacturer and wholesaler of premium supplements and superfoods such as Acai, Hemp seed, Maca, Maqui berry, Spirulina and Wheatgrass.

About half of the turnover is overseas trade and there has been rapid growth in turnover almost quadrupling in the three-year period. A trebling in profits and an increase in staff numbers from four to 23 clearly supports their success.

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Started in 2009 by Hardip Singh after completing an MBA, he chose the superfood sector due to personal interest, the growth potential, and the opportunity to work with producers from around the world. The marketing strategy is very well segmented, targeting specific sub-sectors and the spread of countries is tactically focused on those where it can effectively compete and offer a competitive advantage.

To even apply for the International Trade award, companies must have made a minimum of £100,000 in overseas sales in the first year and show year-on-year growth; show that the organisation has achieved outstanding growth in overseas earnings relative to your business size and sector; and show steep year-on-year growth (without dips) in overseas sales over three years - or substantial year-on-year growth (without dips) over six years.

Winners of the Queen's Awards for Enterprise are visited by a Royal representative and are presented with a crystal bowl as a mark of their achievement. They are also invited to attend a reception at Buckingham Palace in July 2016.

Rainforest Foods website

Images: BIS

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