French plant-based whole-cut leader Umiami announces that it has achieved B Corp certification this week. Following a certification process initiated in 2021, the company says it is delighted to belong to the community founded by B Lab, having obtained a score of over 80 points in a scoring system focused on five major areas: corporate governance, employees, customers, communities, and the environment.
Umiami acquired a former Unilever facility in the Alsace region at the end of 2022, with the site covering 14,000 m2 offering production capabilities of up to 22,000 tonnes of meat and seafood alternatives per year and creating around 70 jobs in the region.
Last October, the company secured €32.5 million in a Series A round, bringing its overall capital raised to €100 million, and stating its intention to become a leader in the plant-based meat market. The company will take a new step in its expansion with the inauguration of the Alsace factory later in 2024.
Additionally, in interview with vegconomist last year, co-founder Martin Habfast detailed further international expansions, explaining that the newly secured funds “will propel our sales effort – we opened a sales office in Tokyo earlier this year and have just hired a General Manager in the US. This additional capital will allow us to go further and faster.”
Regarding the US market, he explained, “We’re just starting in the US, specifically in Chicago, where we set up our head offices. We hired a General Manager, John Hatto, a food industry veteran. He’s held VP and SVP roles at PepsiCo and Lamb Weston (the country’s #1 French fries producer).”
Clémence Pedraza, late founder and Chief Impact Officer at Umiami, comments on the B Corp listing, “We are proud to have been certified B Corp and to belong to this community of over 5,000 companies worldwide. Joining this international movement was evident from the early days of our company. We want to contribute to a profound, positive and sustainable transformation of our society and the planet.”
More information at https://umiami.com/en/home/
