New Heura Burger packaging

Source: Heura

Heura’s 2023 performance was bolstered by its listing with Waitrose

Plant-based brand Heura has boosted turnover by more than 20% to €38.3m (£32.8m) in 2023, helped by growth of 81% in the UK as its listing in Waitrose bolstered the Spanish business.

The company said international sales soared by 63% last year as France lead the way with 88% growth, followed by the UK. Heura added it had also solidified its leadership position in its native Spain, securing a record market share of 26%.

Its overall revenue growth of 22% represented a slowdown from the 80% jump in 2022 as the business transitioned from “a hypergrowth approach to a sustainable growth strategy”, aiming for financial autonomy in 2025.

Earlier this month, Heura closed a €40m (£34.2m) Series B funding round as it aims to improve efficiency and move into profitability. The group also announced a partnership with spreads giant Upfield, which owns Flora and Violife, to build a plant-based alliance.

“In a pivotal year of transformation for the plant-based sector, we emerged as a category developer leader, enabling other companies to accelerate the protein transition by introducing a licensing B2B division aimed at extending its impact to a global scale via breakthrough technologies,” said co-founder and CEO Marc Coloma.

Last April, Heura hailed a “key milestone” as it filed its first patent for 100% plant-based foods with “clean labels, high-quality proteins and low fat”. It followed the move with its additive-free York ham-style slices, which hit shelves in Q3, becoming the top seller in the deli plant-based category in Spain.

Founded in 2017 by Coloma and Bernat Añaños, Heura was valued at €70m in 2021 following a €4m crowdfunding campaign and a €16m Series A round.