Cleveland Kitchen Closes $19M Series A to Accelerate its Continued Growth as a Category Leading Fermented Food Brand

This Financing Expands Production Capabilities by Way of New West Coast Facility and Strategic Acquisition 

CLEVELAND, June 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 Cleveland Kitchen's leadership, Sonoma Brinery's current output, drive cost and quality will quadruple. All 50 employees from Sonoma Brinery will be joining the Cleveland Kitchen team including Dave Ehreth the Founder and President of Sonoma Brinery. Ehreth will be consulting with the Cleveland Kitchen 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." 

"Cleveland Kitchen has totally redefined the fresh fermented food space. Drew and his team have built a platform of branded products that have already demonstrated significant appeal to a broad cross-section of the country, illustrated by their category-leading velocities in a number of the nation's largest retailers. We're excited to be part of the journey as they continue to lead product innovation in one of the most interesting categories we've seen," said James Graham, Partner at Amberstone. 

For more information on Cleveland Kitchen, please visit www.clevelandkitchen.com. 

Cleveland Kitchen was started with three brothers, cabbage and a traditional family recipe. The brothers began their fermenting journey in college as a way to stay in touch with their Cleveland roots and began to create fresh, crunchy, probiotic krauts that used simple ingredients like vegetables, garlic and salt. After serving up their mouthwatering take on sauerkraut at local farmers markets, the founders expanded their availability and now, provide their world-class products across the country. Today, Cleveland Kitchen is an innovative culinary brand focused on creating fermented products for all that taste amazing and have a halo of health. For more information, please visit www.clevelandkitchen.com and follow their Instagram page. 

Amberstone backs ambitious entrepreneurs scaling brand-first consumer product companies into nationally distributed category leaders. Amberstone combines rigorous, data-driven analysis and extensive experience in CPG to provide capital and purposeful partnership to help entrepreneurs achieve their visions. Current and former partner brands include Honey Mama's, JuneShine, Partake Brewing, Daily Harvest, Chameleon Cold Brew and Frida. For more information, please visit: https://www.amberstone.com/

Sonja Melin | Olivia Flores
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SOURCE Cleveland Kitchen