Wild Friends Foods

What Wild Friends Foods does

Wild Friends Foods is a private, Portland, Oregon-based consumer packaged goods (CPG) food company founded in 2011 by co-founders Erika Welsh and Keeley Tillotson (who serves as CEO). The company describes itself as an "innovative food brand on a mission to Make Food Friendly," signaling a consumer-facing positioning rather than a technology platform play. With a headcount of 11-50 employees, Wild Friends operates at small-to-mid-stage scale typical of emerging CPG brands seeking retail distribution and brand-building momentum.

The company's capital structure reflects a moderately funded early-stage CPG profile. Across 2018-2019, Wild Friends raised approximately $4.05 million in disclosed funding across three transactions, with the largest being a $3.5 million round in November 2018 led by Cambridge Companies and supported by a syndicate including CircleUp, Color Capital, Echo Capital, Katjes Greenfood, Knudsen Capital, and Portland Seed Fund. The investor mix blends CPG-specialist capital (CircleUp, Color Capital), strategic food investors (Katjes Greenfood), and regional Pacific Northwest funds (Portland Seed Fund, Knudsen Capital), suggesting an explicit intent to scale distribution and brand reach.

Specific product lines, pricing structures, distribution channels, customer logos, revenue figures, and detailed go-to-market mechanics were not disclosed in the available source material. The company's own website (wildfriendsfoods.com) and direct first-party product disclosure are referenced but not detailed in the input. As such, the precise category positioning, SKU count, channel mix (DTC vs. retail vs. foodservice), and customer concentration cannot be assessed from the provided data. Investors evaluating the asset would require additional primary research on product portfolio, retail penetration, repeat-purchase metrics, and unit economics before drawing conclusions on commercial viability.

Name

Wild Friends Foods

Website

https://wildfriendsfoods.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Wild Friends Foods is a private, Portland-based consumer packaged food brand founded in 2011 by co-founders Erika Welsh and Keeley Tillotson (CEO), operating with 11-50 employees under the mission to "Make Food Friendly." The company has raised approximately $4.05 million in disclosed funding through 2019 from CPG-focused and regional investors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nut and seed butters

NAICS

Specialty Food Retailers (4452), All Other Specialty Food Retailers (445298)

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000), Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)

akta.pro primary industry

Snacks & Small Bites (Protein Boxes, Snack Packs, Charcuterie Cups) (CRAHAKAH)

Keywords

• Nut butter spreads
• Plant-based foods
• Snack foods
• Natural food brand
• Consumer packaged goods

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Core offering

Wild Friends Foods is a consumer food brand that develops, manufactures, and sells friendly, better-for-you food products — primarily nut- and seed-based spreads and snacks — under its own label. The brand is built around a mission to "Make Food Friendly," translating allergen-conscious and plant-based ingredients into mainstream packaged food products for everyday consumers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Justin's: Justin's is a leading nut butter and snack brand (now Hormel-owned) focused on almond and peanut butters, honey peanut butter cups, and related snack packs — directly comparable in product format and dietary-friendly positioning to Wild Friends.
• RXBAR: RXBAR produces clean-label protein bars and snack products with simple, recognizable ingredient lists — directly comparable as a mission-driven, dietary-friendly packaged snack brand targeting natural-food retailers and broader CPG channels.
• Peanut Butter & Co. Peanut Butter & Co. is a small specialty peanut butter brand offering flavored and natural nut butters through retail and D2C — directly comparable as a niche nut butter CPG brand with similar scale and target customer.
• Once Again Nut Butter: Once Again Nut Butter manufactures organic and natural nut butters (peanut, almond, cashew, sunflower) sold through natural food retailers — directly comparable as a small-batch, mission-aligned nut butter brand with overlapping retail channels.
• Barlean's: Barlean's produces specialty nut butters, oils, and dietary supplements with a focus on omega and healthy-fat positioning — directly comparable as a natural-foods nut butter brand with similar ingredient-quality positioning.
• Simple Mills: Simple Mills makes almond-flour crackers, cookies, and baking mixes positioned around clean, allergen-friendly ingredients — directly comparable as a mission-driven natural snack/CPG brand with dietary-friendly positioning in similar retail channels.
• That's it. Nutrition Bars: That's it. produces fruit-based, allergen-free snack bars marketed as clean-label and dietary-friendly — directly comparable as a small mission-driven CPG snack brand targeting natural-foods retailers with similar ingredient positioning.
• Hail Merry: Hail Merry produces plant-based, gluten-free snacks and desserts (cups, tarts, crackers) positioned around clean ingredients — comparable as a small natural-foods CPG brand with similar dietary-friendly positioning and retail-channel overlap.
• Barney Butter: Barney Butter specializes in almond butter (smooth, crunchy, flavored) marketed through natural food retailers and grocery — directly comparable as a small nut butter CPG brand with similar product format and channel strategy.

Broad incumbents

• KIND Snacks: KIND (Mars-owned) is a leading natural snack and nut-based bar brand with national distribution — broader incumbent that overlaps in target customer and natural-foods retail channel, but operates at substantially larger scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat1 record

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/2wildfriends

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wild Friends Foods