Fresh Harvest, EVOL secure financing
Frozen pizza marketer Fresh Harvest Products Inc., New York, N.Y., and frozen organic burrito and entree processor EVOL Foods, Boulder, Colo., each announced capital growth and financing plans
Fresh Harvest Products said it hired Mercury Equity Group, LLC as its financial advisor and investment banker. Officials said Mercury will assist Fresh Harvest in refining its corporate and financing strategies, developing a comprehensive plan for capital structure and attracting institutional support.
"We believe we can accelerate achievement of both our short and long-term goals if we complement our organic growth with solid, strategic opportunities and acquisitions," stated Michael J. Friedman, Fresh Harvest CEO. "As we continue to build a natural and organic food and beverage platform company, we feel it is now necessary to engage an investment banker to provide growth capital and M&A advisory services for our continued robust growth and shareholder-focused acquisition strategies," added Mr. Friedman. "We are very pleased with our decision and look forward to the collaboration ahead as we strive to become a leading player in the natural and organic marketplace."
Fresh Harvest Products is a natural and organic food and beverage company. Fresh Harvest offers a line of organic snack products and frozen pizzas, which include health bars and coffee bars under the Wings of Nature™ name, and frozen pizza and food products under the AC LaRocco™ name.
EVOL Foods, a processor of made-from-scratch natural and organic frozen meals, snacks, pizzas and flatbreads, said received an asset-based loan from RSF Social Finance (RSF), a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the growth of social enterprises working in Food & Agriculture, Education & the Arts and Ecological Stewardship.
EVOL said it use capital from RSF's Social Investment Fund to further its sustainable practices and pursue new ways to bring about change in a challenged and changing food system.
"RSF Social Finance is proud to be a financial partner for EVOL Foods," said Kevin Thompson, RSF lending manager. "We were drawn to EVOL because of the company's commitment to being a social enterprise in all aspects of its business: from using local, organic ingredients to running energy efficient manufacturing and distribution operations. RSF looks forward to supporting EVOL's growth in the years to come."
EVOL said its manufacturing facility produces little waste and is dedicated to composting, recycling and bundling freight miles while also offsetting its carbon footprint by purchasing one Wind-e Renewable Energy Credit for every kilowatt hour of electricity it uses. EVOL said it also is working to innovate more sustainable packaging and recently introduced a new compostable bowl that is also 100-percent recyclable.
"As a growing company, we continue to be a work in progress. Partnering with RSF will enable us to further innovate both our brand and our category," said Alyssa Ferenz, EVOL Foods vice president of finance. "It is inspiring to know that we are supported by people who invest their money not because of projected returns, but because of RSF's mission to support socially and sustainably focused enterprises. With their dollars, RSF investors are truly changing the way our food system works."
EVOL (ee-vuhl) Foods processes frozen burritos, wraps, snacks, entrees, flatbreads and pizzas using antibiotic-free chicken, pork, beef and chorizo sausage; artisan hand-tossed dough; cage-free eggs; traditionally made tortillas; herb-roasted skin-on potatoes; house-made green chile and salsas; and numerous local and organic ingredients. Produced by Phil's Fresh Foods LLC, EVOL products are available in grocery stores nationwide.
Fresh Harvest Products said it hired Mercury Equity Group, LLC as its financial advisor and investment banker. Officials said Mercury will assist Fresh Harvest in refining its corporate and financing strategies, developing a comprehensive plan for capital structure and attracting institutional support.
"We believe we can accelerate achievement of both our short and long-term goals if we complement our organic growth with solid, strategic opportunities and acquisitions," stated Michael J. Friedman, Fresh Harvest CEO. "As we continue to build a natural and organic food and beverage platform company, we feel it is now necessary to engage an investment banker to provide growth capital and M&A advisory services for our continued robust growth and shareholder-focused acquisition strategies," added Mr. Friedman. "We are very pleased with our decision and look forward to the collaboration ahead as we strive to become a leading player in the natural and organic marketplace."
Fresh Harvest Products is a natural and organic food and beverage company. Fresh Harvest offers a line of organic snack products and frozen pizzas, which include health bars and coffee bars under the Wings of Nature™ name, and frozen pizza and food products under the AC LaRocco™ name.
EVOL Foods, a processor of made-from-scratch natural and organic frozen meals, snacks, pizzas and flatbreads, said received an asset-based loan from RSF Social Finance (RSF), a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the growth of social enterprises working in Food & Agriculture, Education & the Arts and Ecological Stewardship.
EVOL said it use capital from RSF's Social Investment Fund to further its sustainable practices and pursue new ways to bring about change in a challenged and changing food system.
"RSF Social Finance is proud to be a financial partner for EVOL Foods," said Kevin Thompson, RSF lending manager. "We were drawn to EVOL because of the company's commitment to being a social enterprise in all aspects of its business: from using local, organic ingredients to running energy efficient manufacturing and distribution operations. RSF looks forward to supporting EVOL's growth in the years to come."
EVOL said its manufacturing facility produces little waste and is dedicated to composting, recycling and bundling freight miles while also offsetting its carbon footprint by purchasing one Wind-e Renewable Energy Credit for every kilowatt hour of electricity it uses. EVOL said it also is working to innovate more sustainable packaging and recently introduced a new compostable bowl that is also 100-percent recyclable.
"As a growing company, we continue to be a work in progress. Partnering with RSF will enable us to further innovate both our brand and our category," said Alyssa Ferenz, EVOL Foods vice president of finance. "It is inspiring to know that we are supported by people who invest their money not because of projected returns, but because of RSF's mission to support socially and sustainably focused enterprises. With their dollars, RSF investors are truly changing the way our food system works."
EVOL (ee-vuhl) Foods processes frozen burritos, wraps, snacks, entrees, flatbreads and pizzas using antibiotic-free chicken, pork, beef and chorizo sausage; artisan hand-tossed dough; cage-free eggs; traditionally made tortillas; herb-roasted skin-on potatoes; house-made green chile and salsas; and numerous local and organic ingredients. Produced by Phil's Fresh Foods LLC, EVOL products are available in grocery stores nationwide.
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