Vegan meat producer NR Instant Produce Pcl (NRF) just became Thailand’s first plant-based company to IPO.
NRF debuted on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on October 9. It raised $51.4 million in its initial public offering, according to Bloomberg. The stock doubled in intraday trading on its debut.
NRF produces and distributes plant-based meats made from jackfruit and eggplant. The company began making vegan minced pork from jackfruit in 2016. It also specializes in Asian, Indian, and Caribbean foods, including ready-to-eat-meals, konjac noodles, and sauces.
In a press release, Dan Pathomvanich—the company’s CEO—said NRF aims to become the “platform for future food.” He said the company issued the IPO “to increase its financial strength and the capability to expand its businesses to support the advance toward the leadership in the food industry at the global level.”
The company’s long-term goals are to expand its production capacity. It entered a joint venture with UK-based The Brecks Company Limited, which specializes in meat-free products. NRF plans to build manufacturing facilities in Thailand, the U.S., and China. Seven percent of NRF’s revenue comes from plant-based products. Pathomvanich expects that number to jump up to 30 percent within the next four years.
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Plant-Based Brands to IPO
While NRF is the first plant-based IPO in Thailand, a number of vegan companies have already gone public.
In 2019, Beyond Meat became the first-ever vegan company to IPO. And in its first month, the brand broke $100 per share.
In June of this year, The Very Good Food Company—the parent company of The Very Good Butchers—became the second vegan brand to go public. The brand saw an 800 percent increase in stock value in the first few days of trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
Scott told LIVEKINDLY that the “IPO signals a broader interest in the plant-based market as a whole” and that “more and more people are choosing plant-based protein options.”
He continued: “This lifestyle change is starting to guide investment decisions as well. As the second company to IPO in this space we very excited that our customers can now own a piece of our company and share in our growth.”
