London-based Italian food brand Crosta & Mollica has secured investment from private equity firm Perwyn Advisors to support its continued domestic growth and international expansion.
The B-Corp certified business – which imports all its products from artisan bakers and producers in Italy – said the funding would help maintain its momentum in the UK with product innovation, exceptional customer service, and brand investment. Specific financial details on the investment were not provided.
An additional part of the deal sees Crosta & Mollica bring in David Milner as chairman once the transaction closes, with founder James Orr and his incumbent management team to remain with the company. Milner is described as a highly experienced food executive, having held leadership roles at Tyrell’s, Lily’s Kitchen, and most recently St Pierre Groupe.
“James and his team have created a truly unique business – their relentless focus on innovation and quality has led to a best-in-class product range spanning the most loved categories of the world’s favourite cuisine,” Milner commented. “The opportunity for further growth is huge and I am thrilled to be able to join the business at this exciting juncture.”
Orr said he was delighted to welcome the financial backing of Perwyn, which specialises in buyout and growth capital across food & ingredients, technology, services and healthcare sectors. “Their shared vision for the potential of the business matches the ambition of our incredible team,” he noted.
Crosta & Mollica claims to have a ‘devoted following of supermarket shoppers’ across the UK and Europe for its range of authentic Italian goods across multiple categories, made using premium ingredients and following regional recipes.
Bakery items among its range include the savoury likes of sourdough pizza, pinsa roman, panini, piadina flatbread, pane pugliese, and grissini, while there are sweet treats such as crostata, cornetti, mini panettone, and amaretti (four new biscotti variations were rolled out in October last year).
UK retailers stocking Crosta & Mollica products include Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Waitrose, and the Co-op, along with online grocery services Ocado, Abel & Cole, Getir, Gorrilas, Gopuff, and Zapp.
Crosta & Mollica’s most recent accounts posted to Companies House (for the year ended 30 June 2022) reported that group revenue had leapt by 44%, up from £22m in 2021 to £31.6m in 2022. While it admitted the majority of this growth came from its core UK base, Europe was said to be quickly becoming a key growth territory with distribution rapidly increasing.
It has expanded to a number of territories across Europe including France, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, and Luxembourg, which Crosta & Mollica revealed now provide 12% of its total business revenue – the brand noted it sees a further growth opportunity within these markets as well as others.
“We are only part way towards realising our goal of becoming a leading global Italian food brand and Perwyn’s international and sector expertise will help accelerate us towards achieving that,” added Orr.
Gurinder Sunner, partner at Perwyn, said the firm was “extremely happy to be collaborating” with Crosta & Mollica. “Their growth and increasing presence across multiple countries is incredibly impressive and testament to the passion they have for developing top quality products befitting of a premium and relatable brand,” he added.
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