Freshii buying online wellness retailer

Freshii is acquiring majority control of Natura Market ECommerce Inc., a Canadian online health and wellness retailer. Upon closing, it will have the right to acquire 100% of the business through Q1 2025, according to a company press release.

"Today is an exciting day for Freshii as we continue our growth as an omnichannel health and wellness leader by adding Natura Market Ecommerce to our group of businesses," Matthew Corrin, founder and CEO of Freshii, said in the release. "Natura Market is a rapidly growing, self-funded and founder-led online retailer with an aligned mission of making on-trend, healthy products available at scale across Canada. We are pleased to be adding this high-growth platform to the channels where Freshii customers can get the latest and greatest in better-for-you food, beverages, snacks and more. The way people access health and wellness is evolving and the acquisition of Natura Market ensures that Freshii is well-positioned to meet the next generation of customers where they are."

Launched in late 2016 by Shakhzod Khabibov, Natura Market has a 4.8-star rating on Google Reviews and is known for bringing cutting-edge wellness products to Canadians. It has posted $19 million in sales over the last 12 months and has no debt, which means it will have a positive impact on Freshii's overall business and expand its delivery and digital commerce capabilities, Corrin said.

"Natura has built an organization with best-in-class logistics and supply chain capabilities, digital marketing presence and product selection expertise," he said. "The rest of the Freshii leadership team and I look forward to continuing to work with Shakhzod, who will remain at the helm of Natura as its president, to drive the brand through its next phase of growth, innovation and expansion."

While the Freshii and Natura Market businesses will be run separately, they will take advantage of the synergies that exist between them. For example, Freshii plans to use the insight that Natura's sales data will provide to help identify early-stage food and beverage trends that can be used to inform Freshii's restaurant and consumer-packaged goods product innovation. Natura will benefit from access to Freshii's shared-service infrastructure.

A board, comprised of the senior management of Freshii and Natura and chaired by Corrin, will provide general oversight.

"We are really pleased with today's announcement and welcome the entire Natura team to Freshii," said Daniel Haroun, Freshii CFO. "The company's leadership demonstrates entrepreneurship at its finest. Over a short period of time, Natura has become a true Canadian success story, with revenue doubling in 2020 vs 2019, and continuing to demonstrate strong double-digit growth in 2021. Natura Market has built strong customer loyalty and a relevant Canadian brand in just five short years, positioning itself as a leading wellness ecommerce retailer. We have watched and admired Natura Market's growth for the last two years and respect the work Shakhzod and his team have done to build and grow their business."

The details

Freshii will pay $5.7 million for 60% of Natura Market's outstanding shares at closing with rights to purchase the remaining 40% of Natura's shares through Q1 2025.

Since it was founded in 2005 in Canada, Freshii has opened 384 restaurants in 14 countries, has expanded its CPG lineup across hundreds of major retailer points of distribution and offers nutritional supplement products in-store and directly to consumers via its online retail site.