Canadian e-commerce store Vegano Foods announces it has completed its acquisition of SMPL Oats, an emerging clean-label oat milk brand, by way of a “three-cornered amalgamation”. The acquisition is Vegano’s first and marks a major milestone in the brand’s development of a vertical distribution model for scaling e-commerce opportunities on its platform.
Beginning with SMPL Oats, the company intends to purchase and invest in brands that consumers are actively seeking out in its online store, following the same model Amazon used for its successful Amazon Basics program. Vegano also plans to complement SMPL Oats with in-house branded products such as its Greens Blend and Protein Powder drink mixes, which is expected to increase consumer cart size and drive recurring purchases.
Swift success
SMPL Oats specializes in creating “no compromise” oat milk products that are free from dairy, gluten, nuts and artificial flavors. Its products are currently sold direct-to-consumer online.
Founded in Vancouver in 2020, Vegano is a fast-growing e-commerce company that also delivers plant-based meal boxes. Having raised over $4.2M in an oversubscribed Series A, the company soon debuted on the Canadian Securities Exchange (Ticker symbol: VAGN). Its online marketplace stocks over 10,000 SKUs of plant-based goods, and plans to expand operations beyond Vancouver to Toronto, Montreal and Los Angeles later this year.
An aligned mission
According to Vegano, its combination of in-house owned products, an efficient supply chain and seamless shopping and delivery experience position it to dominate the healthy online shopping category.
Upon the company’s announcement to acquire SMPL Oats in April, Vegano founder and CEO Conor Power commented, “The initial success of SMPL Oats, our aligned mission to help Canadians build healthy eating habits and live a more health-conscious life and strong industry tails winds make this acquisition a perfect fit for shareholders and customers of our burgeoning marketplace.”
