Advantage Capital Agribusiness Partners has made a $2-million investment in Hip Chick Farms, which offers a line of organic and fully cooked frozen poultry entrées. The investment comes at a time of growth for Hip Chick Farms, supporting its release of new products as the company begins to supply to large retailers Target and Kroger.
“Hip Chick Farms is setting a new standard for products in the frozen food aisle,” said Tyler Mayoras, principal at Advantage Capital. “The company uses whole pieces of chicken–no fillers or starches to extend the product. This is a company that is changing the marketplace and proving that frozen food can be both healthful and tasty.”
Inspired by positive reviews and strong demand for Jennifer Johnson’s good-for-you recipes, Johnson and Serafina Palandech launched Sebastol, California-based Hip Chick Farms in 2013. The company had then, as it does now, a passion for using fresh, sustainable and locally sourced ingredients.
“Every kid across America deserves access to delicious, healthful foods, and it is our mission to make it easier for busy parents to provide it,” said Palandech. “By not using artificial ingredients and maintaining freshness through our freezing process, we believe our food tastes as if you cooked it in your kitchen yourself.”
Hip Chick Farms cooks with chickens that are raised without antibiotic and fed a non-GMO, plant-based diet. The company has been able to mark five of its eight products as organic, with plans to increase that number within the next year. All of its products use whole muscle meat without fillers.
“We created the Rural Business Investment Company as a way to inspire innovation and investment in rural America, and it is encouraging to see it doing just that,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “Matching private investors with businesses in rural communities helps companies get the capital they need to grow and create jobs.”
ACAP is a $154.5 million fund that is licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a Rural Business Investment Company (RBIC). The fund is a partnership between Advantage Capital and nine Farm Credit organizations, established to bring together resources and people focused on providing more private capital, small business investment and quality jobs to rural America. Farm Credit supports rural communities and agriculture with reliable, consistent access to credit and financial services.
