General Mills increases investment in cottage cheese maker Good Culture

General Mills has increased its investment in US organic cottage cheese maker Good Culture via its 301 Inc venturing unit.

Good Culture has secured $8m as part of a fresh funding round led by Cavu Venture Partners with investments from Almanac Insights and 301 Inc.

The funding will be used by Good Culture to further expand its distribution network and product development in order to grow in the overall dairy category.

Good Culture CEO and co-founder Jesse Merrill said: “When we entered the market with our disruptive cottage cheese range, it was our aim to responsibly make real food, simple ingredient, superfood products that tasted amazing and worked toward a larger goal of creating a material change to the food system.

“We have found incredible partners in CAVU, 301 INC and Almanac, and this round is a testament that the better dairy, and more broadly, the real food space is one with exponential potential.”

Good Culture was co-founded in 2015 by Jesse Merrill and Anders Eisner. The company delivers high protein, organic and non-GMO ingredients, pasture-raised milk from free-roaming cows on sustainable family farms,  as well as live and active cultures. The company is claimed to have experienced more than 500% growth since its inception and is sold nationally in over 11,000 stores.

CAVU Venture Partners co-founder Clayton Christopher said: “We are always seeking to find and support brands with a mission to change our environment and the way consumers eat for the better.

“We believed in them in 2016 and are excited to invest again with the brand as a part of their continued growth and progress, as Good Culture is at the helm of this dormant category’s reinvention.”