Piper invests £6 million in Mindful Chef
Private equity firm Piper has invested £6 million in the healthy recipe box brand Mindful Chef.
Launched by friends Rob Grieg-Gran, Giles Humphries and Myles Hopper in 2015, Mindful Chef has seen a 178% sales increase in the past year. Based in London’s Wandsworth, it has annual sales of £10 million and employs 27 people. Each week the company offers customers 16 different recipes to choose from with all meals being nutritionally balanced and gluten and dairy free with no refined carbohydrates or sugars.
Piper’s investment will enable the business to expand its UK customer base and capitalise on the growth of the recipe box market which is forecast to double over the next 10 years.
Rory Gibbs, Piper’s investment director, said “Mindful Chef is well placed to continue accelerating the growth of the recipe box market with its highly differentiated health focused positioning. We are backing a young, dynamic team who are passionate about making healthy eating easier for their customers. We are excited to be joining them and helping them to realise their ambitions.”
Tim Lee, the former head of food and online strategy at Marks & Spencer, has recently joined the business as chief executive.
Lee added: “With 2018 ending on a high, this major investment from Piper signifies the great confidence they have in our business and will help support our established marketing programme as well as our exciting NPD pipeline. The global recipe box market is ripe for distribution and we believe that Mindful Chef’s proposition ticks all the boxes for people who want to live healthier lives.”
For every meal purchased, Mindful Chef donates a meal to a child in poverty though its chosen charity One Feeds 2. To date the company has provided more than 770,000 meals.
In October last year Piper invested £11 million in the online flower gifting company Bloom & Wild.
