Misfits Market, an online grocery platform focused on eliminating food waste, revealed yesterday that it plans to acquire Imperfect Foods, an online grocer with a similar mission. The acquisition will combine both businesses to cross $1 billion in sales and reach profitability by 2024.
“We have a tremendous opportunity to advance the shared mission of both brands, which is nothing less than a fundamental re-imagining of both the grocery category and the broken U.S. food system,” said Abhi Ramesh, CEO and founder of Misfits Market, in a statement. “The strengths of the Imperfect Foods organization, from its in-house delivery fleet and robust private label program to its sustainability commitments and innovation, add immediate scale and depth to what we’re building at Misfits Market.”
In the short term, both brands will continue separate operations. Ramesh will serve as CEO of the combined company, and executives from both Misfits Market and Imperfect Foods will make up the leadership team.
An estimated 30 to 40 percent of the food supply is made up of food waste, which the companies hope to alleviate in their mission. Both companies operate by repurposing foods that are not fit for grocery stores because of their look or shape, even though they remain fit for human consumption.
“Scale matters in grocery, and this combination makes us a truly meaningful disruptor in the space,” said Imperfect Foods CEO Dan Park in a statement. “Both organizations have made significant progress as individual brands—together we have already rescued nearly 500 million of pounds of food that may otherwise have gone to waste, and driven innovation in a category propped up by antiquated technology and thinking. The combined experience and expertise of this newly merged team will exponentially increase our ability to take on established players in the traditional grocery space.”
Through the acquisition, both companies hope to deliver a better food system for farmers, suppliers, and customers across the U.S.
Related: Misfits Market Launches Private Label Line; Forsea Foods to Target Eel Meat Cultivation