Hero Group eyes UK and overseas openings for The Gut Stuff

Hero Group believes it tin amended The Gut Stuff’s beingness successful the UK snacks marketplace and volition commencement to instrumentality the concern overseas aft buying the fledgling, gut-health brand.

London-based The Gut Stuff, acceptable up successful 2017, sells high-fibre snacks and drinks successful the UK. Stockists see Tesco and The Co-op.

Hero, the Swiss radical that is location to brands including Deliciously Ella and Organix, has paid an undisclosed sum for the business. Sisters Alana and Lisa MacFarlane, The Gut Stuff’s co-founders, volition proceed to pb the business, Hero Group said.

A Hero Group spokesperson said the company’s “experience successful high-quality snack products” volition bolster The Gut Stuff’s maturation prospects. The caller proprietor declined to disclose its caller asset’s existent sales.

“Hero has the resources to assistance the institution make faster done the acquisition we person successful the UK marketplace with assorted players,” the spokesperson said.

“For the clip being, we are focusing connected the UK snacking market, 1 of the largest successful Europe and we volition past research options to grow further. There is tons of country to physique organisation successful the UK market transmission and beyond. This is our focus.”

Speaking to Just Drinks successful October, Lisa MacFarlane said The Gut Stuff had seen “nearly 100% maturation implicit the past year”. She added: “That maturation is chiefly successful retail and I deliberation that’s a operation of integrated maturation and marque awareness, arsenic good arsenic performing good successful those retailers and getting accrued distribution.”

So far, The Gut Stuff has focused its efforts connected the UK but the Hero spokesperson indicated an introduction into an overseas retailer is connected the horizon.

“We person a motorboat successful a supermarket concatenation extracurricular the UK successful June and Hero is present starting to research different opportunities,” the spokesperson said.

As good arsenic selling branded nutrient and portion products, The Gut Stuff besides works with companies connected educating their unit connected gut health. Clients person included Accenture and Aegon. The concern besides has a media limb that has made TV shows and published books connected gut health.

Hero plans to clasp “the full ecosystem”, the spokesperson said. “Hero recognised that the content, community, acquisition and products each enactment unneurotic arsenic 1 flywheel, and that it's importantly stronger with each its parts intact. That's ever been our model: physique the marque and the assemblage first, past fto the products follow.”

The woody for The Gut Stuff is the archetypal acquisition Hero Group has made since promoting main concern serviceman Christian Schierbaum to the presumption of CEO past year.

In 2024, Hero Group acquired UK-based steadfast nutrient marque Deliciously Ella.