Weld North announced today that it has acquired a significant minority stake in Organic Avenue, a provider of organic juices and raw food plans. “After six years of successful local expansion and building a loyal customer base, we were ready to take on a partner that could help manifest our vision,” said Denise Mari, Founder, Organic Avenue.
Organic Avenue provides organic juicing and raw food plans and has a vertically integrated line of 50 custom developed healthy product categories including organic, cold-pressed juices, soups, smoothies, salads, booster shots, gourmet entrees and desserts. The company also offers classes in food preparation, community gatherings and health-promoting retreats. The company was founded in 2005 and is based in New York, NY (www.organicavenue.com).
Weld North is an investment company founded by former Kaplan, Inc. CEO Jonathan Grayer in partnership with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Sectors of interest include education, health and wellness, consumer services and marketing businesses. The investment marks in Organic Avenue is the first in the health and wellness space for Weld North. As part of the transaction, Mr. Grayer will become Chairman of Organic Avenue. The firm is based in Greenwich, CT (www.weldnorth.com).
“We are extremely excited to begin Weld North’s expansion into the health and wellness category with this investment in Organic Avenue,” said Mr. Grayer, Chairman and CEO, Weld North. “The organic lifestyle market is an exciting and dynamic space, with consumers spending more than $300 billion on lifestyle and health-related products in 2011. Organic Avenue, under the leadership of its current management team, has had an impressive growth story in the greater NYC market with high volume stores in key New York neighborhoods addressing an important and growing consumer market. We look forward to helping Organic Avenue realize its goal to open many more new locations over the next two years and to position the company for long-term expansion.”
