Healthy snack brand Real Handful has secured a six-figure follow-on funding package to support a host of new listings for its expanded product range of savoury nuts and trail mixes.
The business also plans to use the money to hire more staff and launch into North America.
Founded in 2016, Real Handful makes a range of snacks, trail mixes and protein bars using fruits, nuts, seeds and pulses. It is stocked by more than 2,000 stores in the UK, including at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Waitrose.
Last year, the business launched a new range of oven-baked nuts and savoury trail mixes after raising more than £400,000 from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) and a crowdfunding round on Crowdcube.
The new savoury range has now launched with Morrisons, Waitrose, Ocado and Sainsbury’s and already accounts for more than 50% of overall sales.
Real Handful secured the follow-on funding from NPIF, with additional match funding coming from the government’s Future Fund, which was launched last year during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’ve seen a dramatic change in snacking habits over the past 12 months, as well as a big switch towards online purchases,” said Real Handful co-founder Joe Taylor.
“Thanks to the funding from NPIF and Maven, we’ve been able to accelerate our product development plans and we’re delighted that so many major UK retailers are as excited as we are about the disruptive new savoury snacking options we’ve launched.
“The follow-on investment we’ve recently received as part of the Future Fund scheme will go a significant way to helping us scale these new ranges even further, grow our team and take the next steps on our international export journey.”
The NPIF project is supported by the European Regional Development Fund, in collaboration with the British Business Bank and ten Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).
Maven Capital Partners is the fund manager for the NPIF North West Equity Finance element of the fund.
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