Nestle freshens up its image with vegetarian meals takeover
GENEVA — The maker of Hot Pockets wants to go vegetarian, California-style.
Nestle, the world’s biggest food and drinks company, is buying husband-and-wife startup Sweet Earth, which sells frozen burritos stuffed with quinoa, beans and other vegetarian ingredients.
The move echoes efforts by packaged food conglomerates across the world that have been trying to appeal more to consumers who favour fresher foods, smaller, local brands and are worried about the ingredients they eat.
Nestle, whose frozen food brands include Lean Cuisine and Stouffer’s, recently invested in online meals company Freshly, which delivers cooked meals to customer’s doorsteps that it says are gluten-free and don’t contain refined sugars. In 2012, Campbell Soup bought natural foods maker Bolthouse Farms.