White Rabbit

Source: White Rabbit

Matteo Ferrari and Nick Croft-Simon

Free-from pizza specialist White Rabbit has secured a £1.1m investment boost to fund market expansion.

The retail and out-of-home food supplier – whose product range also includes ready meals – will use the backing from Guinness Asset Management to support an innovation pipeline and above-the-line marketing.

The cash injection will also underpin expansion across out-of-home and distribution of the brand’s frozen range across Ireland, Scandinavia and The Netherlands, in addition to existing export business in Norway, Singapore and France, the company said.

The investment follows a 70% year-on-year growth projection for White Rabbit, as well as of NPD and distribution gains across retail and out-of-home. The company recently launched a chilled free-from calzone and secured a Sainsbury’s listing for its frozen dough balls.

The cash injection from Guinness Asset Management is a boost to the growth ambitions of White Rabbit’s co-founders, Nick Croft-Simon and Matteo Ferrari, who are looking to double the size of the business within the next two years.

“After continuous year-on-year growth, we’re using this raise to take White Rabbit to the next level,” said Ferrari.

“We wanted to find an established partner that can allow us to maintain our dynamism and agility, whilst providing us with the resource and know-how to turbo charge the next stage of our journey, and Guinness Assert Management is exactly that,” he added. “They have been clear from the outset that they are coming in to support us and our vision for the brand, and that was a huge determining factor in our decision to team up with them. We can’t wait to get started.”

According to Malcolm King, fund manager at Guinness Asset Management, the investor had been impressed by the progress White Rabbit had made with limited capital. “The company’s impressive retail penetration and growth rate are evidence of its growing cult-like customer following and strength of its premium offering in the plant based and gluten free Italian category,” he said.

“We are looking forward to working with the White Rabbit team to develop their multichannel and country expansion strategy and realise the next stage of their growth ambitions,” King added.