No Evil Foods: ‘Plant meats’ with an activist soul
Co-founders Sadrah Schadel and Mike Woliansky are in the middle of a funding round, seeking fresh capital to take their revenue-making company to the next level
By Murielle Gonzalez
Bold as their company brand name, Sadrah Schadel and Mike Woliansky say they created No Evil Foods in vengeance for what they felt was a broken food system. Based in Asheville, North Carolina, the company’s range of ‘plant meats’ has gone a long way towards disrupting the protein market and products are sold from coast-to-coast in the US in-store and online. Today, No Evil Foods is a $5 million revenue-making business committed to taking plant-based meats out of the laboratory and back into the kitchen.
With 15-plus years of experience in the food industry, Schadel leads the company as its chief operating officer. The recipe concept is her brainchild, having created and scaled the formulation in her home kitchen. Chief executive Woliansky is an experienced business manager in the music and restaurant industries.
The entrepreneurial duo established the company in 2014 and began making plant-based food products at Blue Ridge Food Ventures, a food incubator space on the campus of AB Tech in Asheville. The business operated from this 800 square foot, shared use facility until 2019.
The two completed a convertible note round with friends and family and a Series A that led to the acquisition of a 16,000 square foot facility in 2019 – and it’s been onwards and upwards ever since.
“No Evil Foods shines in the intersection of clean label, plant-based food, and true meat experience,” says Schadel. “We took staple pantry ingredients and created versatile, boldly seasoned and nutrient-dense plant meats, which became our tool to preach our do no evil gospel.”
The No Evil Foods product line comprises six SKUs – vegan versions of chicken pieces (Comrade Cluck), chorizo (El Capitan, El Zapatista), Italian sausage (The Stallion), pulled pork BBQ (Pit Boss), and turkey (The Pardon). A line of plant-based jerky and meat sticks are set for launch this year in three flavours – cherry teriyaki, pastrami, and bloody Mary.
“Leading drivers of plant-based purchases are taste and health, but often operate at the opposing ends of the spectrum,” says Schadel, and argues No Evil Foods blends those two leading desires of taste and clean label better than any other brand on the market.
“We use real ingredients like tomatoes and chickpea flour, kidney beans, and other ingredients that you recognise from the pantry,” says Schadel. “And we don’t have any oils on our product at all, which is unique to brands that are seeking to emulate the experience of animal protein,” she adds.
Brand values
Schadel says empathy for consumers is a cornerstone of the No Evil Foods brand, and this connection with shoppers is evident in the company’s commitment to social and environmental justice. “We are an activist brand,” says Schadel, noting sustainability is among the messages the company is moving forward.
“We’ve always had compostable packages and have been recognised with awards for it,” she says. “Last year, we pushed that a little bit further by becoming the world’s first plastic negative plant-based meat brand through a partnership with rePurpose Global.”
No Evil Foods wraps its plant meat products in an unbleached kraft carton. The packaging is made from 100% recyclable and compostable materials, plant-based ink and water-soluble adhesives.
RePurpose Global is a New York-based plastic credit platform helping companies anywhere go plastic neutral by financing circular economy innovators worldwide. As part of its agreement with No Evil Foods, the brand will fund the recovery and recycling of two pounds of plastic waste for every pound it generates.
No Evil Food estimates the partnership will remove 8,000 pounds of plastic from the ecosystem in its first year.
The activism of No Evil Foods continues on the social front as well. “We’re seeking to solidify our B Corp status this year,” says Schadel. “We’re trying to put those trust marks in place so that we can connect with consumers more effectively than ever.” Schadel explains that justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion are the company’s priorities.
No Evil Foods is a Fair Chance certified business and has committed itself to hiring people with criminal records who have the relevant qualifications to give them a chance to earn a living wage.
The company has been in the firing line since allegations of busting a union drive came to light last year – media outlets like Vice reported that No Evil Foods fired two employees that were at the heart of the organisation.
Schadel denies the allegations. “Over a year ago, in a free, fair and open election, our employees turned down unionisation by close to 70%. In fact, No Evil Foods was just voted the Best Start-Up to Work For in our hometown, and we think that speaks volumes about how we truly support our entire team.”
No Evil Foods: Steady growth
Woliansky says No Evil Foods has what it takes to become a $100 million business by 2025, having grown revenue from $1.4 million in 2018 to $5 million last year.
“We have experienced a massive growth in the past 24 months,” says Woliansky, noting the company has secured shelf-space with major US players, including Walmart, Whole Foods, Albertsons, Safeway, and Wegmans, as well as partnerships with key distributors such as Unfi. The company is also gearing up for launching in the foodservice space this spring.
“We’re a manufacturer as well, which we think is a really valuable aspect to our business within plant-based meats,” says Woliansky. “Consumer demand is outpacing the infrastructure to produce plant-based products with quality, at scale and differentiation,” he adds. “This capability is what makes us special within the plant-based category.”
Woliansky doesn’t disclose details of the production volume, but recognises the manufacturing capacity of No Evil Foods brings about co-manufacturing opportunities in the future. He warns, however, that the business-to-business model is not part of the company’s strategy at the moment.
Direct-to-consumer sales are on an upward trend. “We’ve seen about 275% growth in the past 12 months in our DTC channels, and we feel like there’s a lot more opportunity there,” says Woliansky. He notes No Evil Foods is tapping into the subscription-based meal delivery sector by partnering with companies like Imperfect Foods.
No Evil Foods seeks to raise $8 million in a funding round currently under way at a $20 million valuation, and the proceeds will be utilised in marketing efforts. “We’re focusing on building the brand, where the consumer is meeting us at the shelf, and driving the velocities we’ve got with existing partners while adding new ones as well,” says Woliansky.
The entrepreneurial duo reveal the average gross margin across the core SKUs is about 25% and that manufacturing efficiencies could bring the number up to 40% in the next 12 months.
“With this fundraise, we see a runway to about the end of 2022, at which point we’ll be very close to a break-even,” says Woliansky. “We’re already thinking about how the next round of capital can help drive further growth for the business,” he concludes.