Finnish plant-based company Oddlygood has acquired Rude Health for an undisclosed sum. The move sees Oddlygood take a step towards its ambition of becoming one of the leading plant-based players in the UK and Europe.

Oddlygood is a key actor in the Nordic plant-based market, where in six years it’s grown to an anticipated turnover close to €50m this year and a widely stocked range of plant-based alternatives to milk, cheese, desserts, cooking products and yoghurts.

Oddlygood launched its plant-based desserts into the UK market in 2023 and established itself in the competitive UK plant-based drinks category earlier on this year. It sees the UK as a key territory and says its acquisition of Rude Health will further diversify the business beyond the Nordics and drive both UK and European growth.

Camilla and Nick Barnard co-founded Rude Health in 2005 at their kitchen table. Since then they’ve steadily grown the business and its offering, becoming a top five UK plant-based drinks brand alongside its range of cereals and snacks. The brand, which has always focused on quality ingredients and taste, is now widely available across major retailers and foodservice operators in over 40 countries and has a successful online presence. This year, the company is on track to deliver €33 million in revenue – its biggest year to date.

Rude Health will continue to make and develop its product line-up. Oddlygood meanwhile will establish a base for its UK and European operations to support its expansion plans. The move will see Oddlygood increase its share of the £511 million UK plant-based drinks category.

Niko Vuorenmaa, CEO of Oddlygood, added: “Our ambition is to become one of the leading plant-based companies in the UK and Europe and this acquisition will help accelerate this, but key to its success is the strong alignment between Rude Health and Oddlygood.

Rude Health is one of the biggest success stories in British plant-based food. It’s nothing less than impressive the way the team has grown its product range alongside such a distinctive and well thought of brand to deliver commercial success.”

Camilla Barnard, Co-Founder of Rude Health, says: ‘We created Rude Health at our kitchen table, to make healthy eating a celebration, not a sacrifice. From these basic beginnings mixing muesli we branched out into more cereals and then dairy alternative drinks. The Rude Health brand has grown beyond anything I could imagine to become a household name. Now is the right time to find a partner who can help take it to the next stage of success and Oddlygood shares so many values and the ambition to make this possible.’’

Tim Smith, CEO, Rude Health, commented: “Joining forces with Oddlygood opens up new opportunities for growth and innovation, and our shared missions around taste, quality and the crucial role of plant-based food and drink make this a natural fit. We’re looking forward to working together and leveraging our strengths and making the healthy choice a celebration (not a sacrifice) for our customers. It’s an exciting new chapter for the brand and the team.’’

Main image. Oddlygood