As part of its ITV AdVentures Invest, ITV has said it will invest up to £4 million of advertising inventory in THIS™, one of the fastest growing plant-based companies.
Founded in June 2019 by Andy Shovel and Pete Sharman, the company was formed to offer a plant based alternative to meat eaters. Products are stocked nationwide at major supermarkets, restaurants and cafes, with the range designed to replicate meat products like pork sausages, beef burgers, chicken and bacon.
It is ITV's first investment in a food company, and it will see ITV broadcasting THIS' advertising across ITV channels and ITVX in return for a minority equity stake in the company.
Andy Shovel, co-founder and co-CEO of THIS said: "ITV is a media powerhouse, and to have them as an investor, especially as their first food business investment, is super exciting.
"Not only did we get to make the porkiest plant based TV ad ever, the scale of the investment means that we can reach audiences across the country and get closer to making meat-free the norm.”
Sheena Amin, director of ITV AdVentures, said: “With four new ITV AdVentures investments so far this year, we’re really seeing the benefit of using the power of TV to help supercharge brands at a scale-up stage.
"As the fastest growing plant-based brand in the UK over the last two years, with broad retail distribution and strong product innovation, THIS is very well positioned to continue its strong growth within the plant based meat alternatives sector."
Amin added that the channel expects consumer demand for "conscious consumption" to continue to grow. She added she is "confident that THIS’ upcoming TV campaign will stand out from the crowd" and help the brand become "a worthy household name.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
