Mother Raw expands plant-based line-up with dips

Mother Raw announces launch of dairy-free dips and quesos as cornerstone of continued business growth following $8.1M capital investment

TORONTO, Sept. 22, 2021 /CNW/ – Mother Raw, the Toronto-based scrappy start-up making consciously crafted and plant-powered products, proudly announced today more innovation in the growing plant-based dips category. Consumer packaged goods industry veteran and Mother Raw Chief Executive Officer, Kristi Knowles, secured the capital less than a year ago and swiftly focused efforts on innovation, marketing and continued retail footprint expansion across North America.

“As Mother Raw rounds the corner to our third anniversary as a dressing darling in the organic, plant-based foods space, it was natural to turn our focus to creating dairy-free dips and quesos that are creamy, crave-able, and made with familiar ingredients,” said Mother Raw, CEO Kristi Knowles, who is also an Advisory Board Member of Plant-Based Foods of Canada. “Our super-star team has been extraordinarily resourceful during the pandemic, gleaning insights from consumers, searching out food trends and sampling hundreds of recipes to create these delicious products that have broad appeal, and are also vegan. We are excited to keep shaking things up here on Canadian soil, while continuing to build scale across the US.”

The latest product innovations from Mother Raw were initially introduced through social media at the end of August, with the full line-up available at www.motherraw.ca. There are five dips (Spinach, Roasted Garlic, Everything Bagel, French Onion, and Ranch) and three quesos (Original, Spicy and Nacho). The new dips are plant-based and come in 100 per cent recyclable jars, sure to appeal to the massively expanding segment of plant-based food seekers and even consumers avoiding dairy, nut, gluten, soy, canola and refined sugar.

Mother Raw Business Wins Keep Coming
Since first launching in January 2019, under the leadership of Knowles, Mother Raw has grown from an initial rebrand of 10 refrigerated products to 25 products, spanning four categories, including: dressings and marinades, dips, quesos and condiments. Timing for the added growth also demonstrates the company’s pledge to help more consumers adopt a plant-based lifestyle. A timely action in-line with the recent declaration from Plant-Based Foods of Canada, and their global alliances, announcing a call to action for international organizations and local governments to integrate a shift to predominantly plant-based diets as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

In addition to the new dips, Mother Raw also recently added three wildly popular dressing choices to their collection: Roasted Garlic Caesar, Smoky Chipotle and Balsamic. Along the way, they have captured numerous industry and food awards and accolades from thousands of fans across North America. Most recently, the brand experienced added exposure and excitement when the award-winning musician Lizzo, who is also a celebrated vegan, shared a video on her TikTok featuring Mother Raw queso drizzled on her brussels sprouts nacho recipe.   

The action is well-timed with market trends, noting total North American dips grew a healthy 15 per cent from 2016 to 2020 and refrigerated dips described as plant-based, vegan or dairy free, grew an impressive 129 per cent. The growth rate for the U.S. plant-based food market more than doubled in 2020, as sales surged 27 per cent to $7 billion, according to the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA) and The Good Food Institute (GFI), which is nearly twice the growth of overall US retail food sales. 

The impressive brand growth of Mother Raw is rooted in their steadfast commitment to organic, non-GMO, plant-based ingredients, and strict avoidance of all artificial and processed flavours, colours and fillers. The agility of self-manufacturing in Canada, and prominent placement in the growing refrigerated segment, is combined with savvy marketing efforts, delicious product variety and a growing team of experts to round out the company’s recipe for success.

Since the $8.1M capital investment in November of 2020, Mother Raw has continued to gain new distribution at retailers across North America including Sobeys, Fortinos, Longo’s and Sprouts, with more confirmed accounts in play across North America. Distribution wins go beyond bricks and mortar to include online retailers like Plant X, Way Too Good, Vegano, The Green Living Store, Voila and Juice Press. They’ve also forged collaborations with fast growing, dynamic brands including Lightlife, Beyond Meat, Sol Cuisine, Spudsy Snacks, and Saje. As part of their commitment to encourage more people to enjoy more plants, Mother Raw is proud to help provide accessibility through donations to Food Share Toronto, Black Creek Community Farm and the Toronto Vegan Food Bank.

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Mother Raw has more than doubled revenues in Canada growing +127 per cent, adding seven major Canadian Retailers and numerous independents accounting for over 750 new stores across Canada, “The growth in Canada has been very promising and as business uptake resumes in the US we are continuing the rapid momentum we built there before the start of the pandemic. There is a lot of exciting news on the horizon,” added Knowles.

Mother Raw dressings and dips can be found in the refrigerated aisle at major retailers and several speciality and independent retailers across Canada, including Metro, Save-on Foods, Sobeys, Longo’s, Fortinos, and Walmart. In the US, Mother Raw is at Fresh Thyme, Natural Grocers, Pavilions and Sprouts with more listings in the works. Mother Raw products are cold shipped anywhere in North America and can be found on-line at www.motherraw.ca.

About Mother Raw
Mother Raw is a Toronto-based food start up on a mission to encourage everyone, everywhere to eat more plants. Made by nature, not in a lab, Mother Raw offers an impressive variety of 25 delicious, refrigerated dressings, marinades, dips, condiments and quesos to help make eating more plants more tasty, convenient, and versatile. Always Organic, non-GMO and plant-based, Mother Raw products are sold in 100 per cent recyclable glass containers, Mother Raw products are proudly free of the top common allergens such as dairy, nuts, gluten, and soy.

For more information, please visit www.motherraw.ca or @MotherRaw on social.

SOURCE Mother Raw