Food startup Rebel Meat gets new owner
Takeover in the frozen food sector: concept cool further expands its own brand portfolio and acquires the food start-up Rebel Meat in an asset deal.
The Austrian specialist for food solutions in the frozen food sector, St. Pölten-based concept cool Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH, is taking over key assets of the Viennese food start-up Rebel Meat, which was founded in 2019 by Cornelia Habacher and Philipp Stangl, in June 2024. The takeover is intended to further expand the product portfolio and consistently develop the organic brand Rebel Kids into a leading brand in the high-quality convenience segment for children.
Rebel Meat
"The concept of convenience products made from local organic meat with an extra portion of vegetables is very appealing to families with children aged 3 to 12. We look forward to making this exciting young brand internationally successful through our network," says Oliver Fritsch, owner of concept cool. concept cool was founded in 1994 and has since developed into the leading specialist for "frozen food as a service" in Austria. The full-service provider networks manufacturers and food retailers and wholesalers in category management in order to bring innovation, quality and culinary variety to the frozen food shelves - for the benefit of consumers and professionals. The company has made a name for itself in the industry with fish and seafood concepts for frozen food in particular. "In concept cool, we have found the perfect partner for further scaling - in terms of the product range, but also in terms of international market expansion," says co-founder Cornelia Habacher of Rebel Meat.
The food startup, which was launched in 2019 under the Rebel Meat brand, originally became known for its hybrid meat products, which were soon available throughout Austria and subsequently imitated across Europe. After the first wave of hype, which included an appearance on the Puls4 TV show "2 Minuten 2 Millionen", the product line for children proved to be a lasting success, which is why the company focused entirely on it and has been operating under the Rebel Kids brand ever since.
Since then, the startup has consistently pursued its mission to bring healthier and sustainable convenience products for children aged 3 to 12 to the frozen food shelves of supermarkets and home kitchens. Well-known customers include the IKUNA leisure park in Upper Austria and the Menümanufaktur in Vienna, which cooks for kindergartens and schools. For end customers, the products are available in over 1500 stores in Austria and Germany, including SPAR, BILLA, UNIMARKT and Alnatura. The products have won several awards, including the Rebel Kids Organic Chicken Sticks "Organic Product of the Year 2024" in Austria.
The brand development was financed with the support of renowned investors such as Wahl & Partner, Hardlymountain Capital, Biogena and the American VC fund Ponderosa Ventures. "We would like to thank all supporters who have made the development of Rebel Kids possible in recent years, above all our employees and investors as well as our production and retail partners," says Philipp Stangl, co-founder of Rebel Meat GmbH. The transaction was structured as an asset deal and the parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
Over the next few years, further products in the existing and other categories are to be launched on the market in order to offer young families a wider range of healthier and sustainable alternatives in the convenience sector. At concept cool, a team consisting of Wolfgang Loacker, Managing Director, Georgia Zombola and Pia Lehensteiner, Product Development and Product Management, will be responsible for the brand.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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