Nutritics Acquires Ten Kites

By Beth JohnsonPublished On: March 13, 2024

Nutritics, an Irish-founded food service technology company, acquired Ten Kites, a UK-based menu publishing platform. As a market leader in providing analytical tools to food service professionals, Nutritics’ acquisition of Ten Kites enables the company to expand its suite of offerings, while also supporting Ten Kites’ expansion across Europe, the Middle East, and Australia.

Nutritics was founded in 2013 by brothers Damian and Ciarán O’Kelly after they spotted a gap in the market for a detailed and accessible database of food information. The CEO of the company is Stephen Nolan, who was recently awarded the first ever EY Sustainability Entrepreneur of the Year. This win came about as a result of Nutritics developing a pioneering, fully automated environmental impact scoring system for the hospitality and food service sector that calculates the climate impact of recipes and menus, and helps food businesses to measure, analyse and manage their sustainability goals.

Today, the company’s software solutions are used in over 100 countries by a wide range of food businesses and health, sport, and education professionals. Along with providing the environmental impact scoring system, Nutritics also provides menu management and food labelling solutions for multi-site food service operators, caterers, and hospitality sector leaders.

Ten Kites was founded in 2013 by Stuart Wilson to provide the food industry with tools that publish accurate and up to date allergen information to menu pages. The company supports many of the UK’s biggest multi-brand groups in the food service industry, including TGI Fridays, Fullers Pubs, Shepherd Neame, Carluccios, and Wagamama.

FOCUS Capital Partners’s Brian Barrett was the lead advisor to Nutritics on the acquisition of Ten Kites. Recognizing the significant demand for food businesses to provide information at the point-of-sale, the Nutritics team was pursuing strategic opportunities to drive growth and scale. Working with FOCUS Capital Partners offered a seamless transaction process, and both the Nutritics and Ten Kites teams achieved optimal outcomes. Combined, Nutritics and Ten Kites are strongly positioned to provide the most accurate and user-friendly solutions to the UK and international food and hospitality sector.

FOCUS Investment Banking International offers an international M&A platform that provides sell-side, buy-side and capital raising services to lower middle-market companies across the U.S. and Europe. The platform provides expertise in several major industries combined with in-depth local market intelligence. Clients benefit from the enhanced geographic reach and streamlined access to markets on both sides of the Atlantic.

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Beth Johnson joined FOCUS as an associate in March 2022. Ms. Johnson assists with the preparation of confidential information memorandums and detailed target lists that support buy-side and sell-side engagements, as well as data management and due diligence organization. Prior to FOCUS, Ms. Johnson was Director of Impact & Development at 4P Foods, a Virginia-based food distribution company serving B2B and B2C customers throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, where she supported capital raise events with a focus on novel financing structures, including program-related investments. Ms. Johnson was responsible for targeting prospective investors and supporting the C-suite with the development of investment materials, which helped the company successfully secure a blend of equity investment, debt financing, and charitable grants. Ms. Johnson is a graduate of Hollins University (B.A. in Art History) where she was a member of the equestrian team. She is a volunteer with organizations in Charlottesville, including Charlottesville Angel Network and Venture Velocity at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.