Naugatuck food purveyor Culture Fresh Foods says it plans to reboot a recently shuttered dairy processing facility in Naugatuck after raising $11 million in venture funding.
Culture Fresh Foods LLC, which grows and sells a variety of vegetables, fruits and plant-based dairy products, says its recent Series A funding round was led by venture capital firms CEI Ventures, FreshTracks Capital and several other angel investors.
The company said it plans to hire many of the roughly 130 employees that lost their jobs last year when global food company Danone closed its Naugatuck facility at 80 Rado Dr., and moved its operation outside of Connecticut.
Initially the processing center will employ 22 people and will expand to about 110 by year five of operation. The company is planning to launch there in December, a company spokeswoman said.
Culture Fresh Foods said it will revamp the former dairy processing facility into a plant-based processing hub as many consumers shift from traditional dairy products due to taste and dietary restrictions, among other factors.
“Demand for these products is so great, it is outstripping supply as production capacity for plant-based dairy products is limited,” the company said in a release announcing the funding round. “Culture Fresh Foods is poised to capitalize on this growing market by manufacturing products with ingredients such as oats and almonds — initially for private label customers and eventually under its own brand.”
Culture Fresh Foods is led by founder Thomas Moffitt, who co-founded Commonwealth Dairy LLC, of Brattleboro, VT, and served as its chief executive for more than seven years.
Moffitt said his newest venture in Connecticut is aimed at fostering an “innovative concept” tapping the fast-growing segments of the non-dairy drinks and cultured foods business.
“With this seed capital we can move into an ideal facility and accelerate the time to ramp up production,” he said.
