On the heels of their Series B fundraise, bringing total funding to date to $47.5M, Hero Bread™ is announcing the national retail launch of their revolutionary better-for-you bread and baked goods. Driven by a massive 54% consumer repeat purchase rate in the first five months on grocery shelves, Hero Bread™ is expanding distribution from 23 to 2,300 grocery retail stores with further growth expected in the back half of the year.
Amidst the challenging fundraising environment with many investors slowing their deployment of capital, strong sales of Hero Bread™ online and in regional grocery retailers demonstrated huge momentum to investors. The proceeds from the raise will be used to accelerate expanded availability of Hero Bread's groundbreaking product line in grocery retail as well as support future product innovation. Cleveland Avenue, DNS Capital, Union Grove Venture Partners, Composite Ventures, GreatPoint Ventures and The D'Amelio Family Fund, 444 Capital, invested in the round, bringing total funding to date to $47.5M.
"444 Capital is joining Hero Bread™ and fellow like-minded investors to revolutionize the baking category and help people on their journey to lead healthier lives," said Heidi D'Amelio, mother of social media and reality TV stars Charli and Dixie D'Amelio. "We look forward to supporting their continued expansion and growth by making better-for-you baked goods not only accessible but delicious."
Hero Bread™ disrupted the bread and baked goods category when it launched in 2021 and has been able to parlay rapid growth selling direct to consumers online into success in the retail channel. Hero Bread™ has previously been available on Amazon.com, where both the Hero Classic White Bread and Hero Classic Burger Buns quickly rose to become #1 Amazon best-sellers. Since launching direct to consumer sales in April 2022 at hero.co, 74% of purchasers have made a repeat purchase and 87% of the over 6,000 reviews to date rate Hero Bread™ products 5 out of 5 stars. In late 2022, Hero Bread™ launched for the first time in the retail channel and the repeat purchase rate is already 54% in the first five months on the shelves, with sales velocity surpassing expectations.
"This new funding will be essential to expanding our reach and fueling product innovation so we can further our mission of creating game-changing bread and baked goods," said Founder and CEO of Hero Bread™, Cole Glass, "Our early performance in the direct-to-consumer and grocery retail channels signaled to investors the incredible demand and quality of our products, so our priority going forward this year is accelerating availability to meet consumer demand both online and in retail."
Now, driven by massive product demand, Hero Bread™ is announcing its first natural channel distribution and first national retail launch at Sprouts Farmers Market, followed by launches in regional grocers in 32 countries across the US.