Cleveland Kitchen, the culinary brand focused on delicious fermented foods, announces a $19M Series A financing led by Amberstone, with participation from existing investor Clover Vitality. The funds will be used to accelerate Cleveland Kitchen’s growth in the fresh-fermented foods category, and to complete the acquisition of Sonoma Brinery, a premium pickle manufacturer focused on bringing customers all naturally fermented foods that taste great. This strategic combination further positions Cleveland Kitchen as a vertically integrated, emergent category leader in the fermentation space. Cleveland Kitchen will now have the opportunity to serve West Coast-based retailers and customers seamlessly thanks to a brand-new state-of-the-art facility in Santa Rosa, CA.
Cleveland Kitchen has achieved 110% revenue growth since 2016 with retail door expansion, same-store velocity increases, and new product innovations. Cleveland Kitchen expects robust growth YOY in 2022 by investing in new operational and manufacturing capabilities, driving increased distribution and household penetration with the fresh kimchi and pickle products, continuing to support its cross-channel retail partners with world-class service, and releasing a new product line this fall.
Under ClevelandKitchen’s leadership, Sonoma Brinery’s current output, drive cost and quality will quadruple. All 50 employees from Sonoma Brinery will be joining the ClevelandKitchen team including Dave Ehreth the Founder and President of Sonoma Brinery. Ehreth will be consulting with the ClevelandKitchen team to lend his background and nearly two-decade knowledge of fermentation science.
Commenting on the transaction, Drew Anderson, Cleveland Kitchen Co-Founder and CEO stated, “Sonoma Brinery’s capabilities align perfectly with Cleveland Kitchen and help to increase speed to market, by adding West Coast manufacturing support and providing proprietary fermentation science information. The brand also provides a suite of ultra-high-quality and delicious fermented products. This acquisition drives our mission of building Cleveland Kitchen as the fermented culinary platform brand, leading product innovation and category growth by producing delicious, fermented, and pickled foods with a halo of health.”