Frizata, the DTC Frozen Foodtech Company Sweeping Latin America, Announces U.S. Expansion with Closing of $5M Series A

BUENOS AIRES, July 21, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Frizata, a direct-to-consumer flexitarian frozen foodtech company, announced the closing of a $5 million Series A investment round led by SP Ventures, the leading Brazilian venture capital fund in Agri-Foodtech in Latin America. Frizata currently operates in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil and has already amassed a loyal customer base and generated more than $15M in sales since launching in 2019. This October, it will make its U.S. debut in Oakland, Calif., with products available throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, delivered by Frizata employees in the company's own temperature-controlled vans.

Founder Expertise

Created by two Argentine entrepreneurs, Adolfo Rouillon and José Robledo, Frizata was born out of a deep understanding of both the tech and frozen food industries. Business partners for over 25 years, Rouillon and Robledo previously founded the successful software development company Amtec (acquired by Neoris) and Congelados del Sur, a frozen foods development company for large food businesses and supermarket chains. As members of the NYC-based Endeavor network--the world's leading community of high-impact entrepreneurs--Rouillon and Robledo saw an inefficiency in the food supply chain and decided to address it by creating a company that offers a transparent approach to distribution and delivery. This Series A marks the first step in Rouillon and Robledo's vision of creating a global food brand, and bringing Frizata to more than 200 cities around the world.

What is Frizata?

Frizata is on a mission to change the experience of everyday food, merging innovation and technology to give consumers the simplicity and balance they need while bringing a positive impact to the environment.

Frizata is a vertically-integrated frozen food tech company delivering convenience, affordability, quality, and sustainability directly to consumers. With a portfolio of over 70 products that includes frozen fruits, vegetables, appetizers and a proprietary line of meatless items such as its "FriBurger", "FriNuggets" and "FriChick'n Empanadas," the brand is targeted at flexitarians--those who are looking to cut down on, but not completely eliminate, meat from their diets. The breadth of its meatless product offerings gives Frizata customers more options than other popular alternative meat companies do.

All of Frizata's products are created without the use of preservatives or artificial ingredients: "Our best preservative is the process of freezing," said co-founder Adolfo Rouillon. Frizata's deep-freezing preserves the food's nutritional value when cooking. Frizata offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack preparations that can be enjoyed on their own or served as "meal assisters" that can be combined with pantry staples to save time on meal prep and create delicious meals in less than 20 minutes.

Value Propositions

Frizata is a Digitally Native Vertical Brand (DNVB) fully responsible for the development, production, e-commerce and distribution of its frozen food products. This business model allows Frizata to eliminate intermediaries along the supply chain and innovate in the following categories:

● Product "Co-Creation" - At Frizata, consumers have the experience of participating in the journey of developing and improving products. By using data to analyze customer opinions, patterns and consumption habits, the Frizata team is able to quickly design foods tailored to their preferences. Every touchpoint, from sales to deliveries and social media, turns into feedback for the realignment of strategy and processes, improving each product version like a software update and generating more variety.

● Speed of Innovation - As a digitally native brand, Frizata's product development and iteration is markedly faster compared to traditional CPGs, allowing them to grow their product portfolio by 180% in two years. By not having to stock up or sell through products in hundreds of retailers, they can refine and release items on their own terms. For example, during the pandemic, customers asked for pre-cut vegetable preparations, so Frizata developed Huerta Frizata, an entirely new line of cut and peeled vegetables in less than five months.

● Cost Reduction & Quality ingredients - Conventional frozen food companies tend to use low quality ingredients to keep costs down. By cutting out the intermediary, Frizata is able to invest in high-quality ingredients and innovation, while offering their products at an affordable price and passing savings along to the consumer.

● DTC - By owning their end-to-end production chain, Frizata can control every touchpoint with their customer, from the first contact to final delivery from Frizata employees, ensuring their high standards for personalized service are met.

● Sustainability - High-quality frozen foods have a significantly longer shelf life than fresh ingredients, which allows consumers to reduce food waste. Frizata is also plastic neutral certified with rePurpose Global, which calculates the plastic equivalent of Frizata's annual footprint and uses the amount to finance innovative recycling and waste management programs in Latin America. Additionally, Frizata's products are delivered without ice packs or unnecessary waste, including the use of cardboard boxes rather than styrofoam.

"We are building a global platform to bring a new generation of innovative foods to millions of consumers eager to rethink the way they eat every day, with a simple experience, affordable prices and caring for the environment. Our purpose is to create better food for more people, it's that simple," said Adolfo Rouillon, co-founder & CEO of Frizata.

Investors in the Series A round include:

● Marcos Galperin, Founder, Mercado Libre - the largest ecommerce and payments ecosystem in Latin America
● Gonzalo Ramirez Martiarena, former global CEO Louis Dreyfus, CEO of Swiss Pampa investor in sustainable food
● Jaime Soler Bottinelli, former global CEO of Cencosud
● Norte Ventures
● Glocal Agrifoodtech & others

"We were extremely impressed with the founders' vision of the value proposition that Frizata is bringing to consumers. Providing high-quality, flexitarian frozen foods, challenging traditional distribution with a D2C model, was very compelling," said Alexandre Stephan, partner SP Ventures, which led the Series A funding. "Having direct access to consumers adds rapid innovation capabilities, which we see as strong long-term competitive advantages."

What's next

To continue the global expansion, the company expects to raise Series B funding by the end of this year. Frizata's next location will be Singapore--a destination selected as a platform for Southeast Asia--followed by London, Madrid, and Mexico City.

About Frizata

Frizata is a direct-to-consumer frozen food platform delivering convenience, affordability, quality, and sustainability to its customers. Since launching in 2019, Frizata operates in five cities in Argentina, in Santiago de Chile (CH) and San Pablo (BR). With a portfolio of over 70 products made without preservatives or artificial ingredients, the company is targeted at flexitarians--those who are looking to cut down on, but not completely eliminate, meat from their diets--and has developed a wide meatless product line. Created by two Argentine entrepreneurs from the Endeavor network, Adolfo Rouillon and José Robledo, Frizata was born out of a deep understanding of both the tech and frozen food industries and a desire to fix inefficiencies in the food supply chain. As a Digitally Native Vertical Brand, Frizata is fully responsible for the development, production, e-commerce and distribution of its frozen food products. This allows the company to "co-create" items with consumers by aggregating and analyzing consumption habits and feedback and using this data to quickly innovate and expand the product line. By cutting out intermediaries, Frizata is able to invest in high-quality ingredients while passing savings along to the consumer. This September, Frizata will make its U.S. debut in the San Francisco Bay Area, with its sights set on global expansion beginning with Singapore, London, Madrid, and Mexico City.

Media Contact

Adrienne DeAngelo, Frizata, +1 5106581353, [email protected]

SOURCE Frizata

Related Links

https://www.frizata.com/us/