Tooru (TOO ), a health-and-wellness-focused company, has announced a key milestone for its subsidiary Juvela, which specialises in gluten-free bakery products.
Juvela’s retail brand OAF, launched recently, now lists eight products at Tesco and is recording week-on-week growth
Tooru is also in advanced discussions to list these products with other major supermarket chains.
OAF is designed to attract a broader healthy foodie shopper in the Free From aisle. It will serve as Tooru’s strategic retail-facing range, while the Juvela brand continues as a leading coeliac prescription-led offer.
Unlike many gluten-free brands that use rice flour, OAF and Juvela products use a specially formulated wheat starch with the gluten removed. This makes them suitable for a gluten-free diet while delivering taste and texture close to conventional bread. Until now, this process has mainly been used in prescription coeliac bread, and OAF aims to bring it to a wider audience of both lifestyle gluten avoiders and coeliac consumers.
Juvela was a key asset in the S-Ventures portfolio and a central factor in Tooru’s acquisition of those businesses earlier this year. The previous owners received approaches indicating a price in excess of £10 million for Juvela’s shares. Whilst no current offers are being pursued, this gives the Board confidence as to the value of this business even prior to the launch of OAF.
Since relisting, Tooru has only raised new funds from the equity placing completed at that time, and no additional debt has been drawn under previously announced facilities. Going forward, the company expects to increase working capital available to Juvela through existing funding arrangements to support growing demand for its products.
“We are increasingly confident in the prospects for Juvela and believe that it has significant upside potential,” said Tooru’s CEO Scott Livingston.
“By combining Juvela’s historical quality, craft and expertise with OAF’s vibrant brand personality, we are on a mission to inject new energy, relevance, taste and enjoyment to the retail Free-From space, starting with a line of high-quality bakery goods, in the fastest growing areas of this category. All of this has been achieved in a relatively short period of time which, we believe, will ultimately create significant value for shareholders.”
View from Vox
Eight SKUs at Tesco with week-on-week growth signal early traction for OAF in the Free From aisle. If the company secures additional national listings and communicates the wheat-starch advantage clearly, Juvela’s retail push could complement its prescription base and underpin cash generation without new debt.