ITV has announced its first investment in a food company, plant-based meat business THIS™. As part of its Media for Equity investment fund, ITV will subscribe for £1.5 million of shares in Plant Meat Limited, with the option to subscribe for two additional tranches of £1.5 million each. In return, ITV will receive advertising inventory across its channels and ITVX. THIS™ is the UK's fastest-growing food company and offers a range of hyper-realistic meat alternatives designed to replicate the taste and texture of popular meat products. ITV has made three other Media for Equity investments this year in Resi, PitPat, and Flarin.
Sheena Amin, Director of ITV AdVentures, stated that ITV is seeing the benefit of using the power of TV to help scale-up brands. She believes that THIS™ is well-positioned to continue its strong growth within the plant-based meat alternatives sector, and expects consumer demand for conscious consumption to continue to grow. Andy Shovel, Co-founder and Co-CEO of THIS™, expressed excitement about having ITV as an investor and the opportunity to reach audiences across the country.
ITV AdVentures Invest is a Media for Equity programme launched in 2021, where ITV takes minority stakes in early-stage digital and direct-to-consumer businesses in return for advertising inventory. ITV's diverse portfolio of successful Media for Equity investments includes what3words, Spoke, Feel, and Carwow. The investment in THIS™ will be held at fair value on ITV's balance sheet and will not be consolidated. In the audited accounts of Plant Meat Limited for the year ended December 2021, reported gross assets were £15.5 million and the net loss was £6.0 million. The company is based in London and has 60 employees.