Back to the Roots, Echo Capital Group
Back to the Roots is an organic food start-up company whose products include ready-to-eat cereal as well as ready-to-grow mushrooms and herbs.
 

NEW YORK — Echo Capital Group, a Los Angeles-based investment firm, has expanded its portfolio with the addition of three food companies: Back to the Roots, Nona Lim, and Wilde Brands.

Based in Oakland, Calif., Back to the Roots is an organic food start-up company whose products include ready-to-eat cereal as well as ready-to-grow mushrooms and herbs. Back to the Roots recently partnered with the New York City public school system to provide cereal to the city’s 1.1 million students.

Benjamin Levy, Echo Capital Group
Benjamin Levy, vice-president of Echo Capital Group

“We are thrilled to welcome Back to the Roots to the Echo portfolio,” said Benjamin Levy, vice-president of Echo. “The company’s core mission to reconnect people back to where food comes from exemplifies the transparency, vision and social justice shared by many of the companies Echo partners with.”

Also based in Oakland is Nona Lim, a manufacturer of non-G.M.O., dairy-free and gluten-free soups, bone broths and portable meals.

Nona Lim, Echo Capital Group
Nona Lim manufactures non-G.M.O., dairy-free and gluten-free soups, bone broths and portable meals.
 

“The convenience and accessibility of Nona Lim’s soups and broths appeals to the millennial generation, but so does the variety and boldness of their Asian-inspired flavors,” Mr. Levy said. “We’re seeing the popularity of ethnic foods growing at a steady pace, while consumers steer away from traditional flavors like ‘beef’ or ‘chicken’ and toward bold and exotic flavors from around the world.”

Wilde Brands, Echo Capital Group
Wilde Brands makes protein snacks and is credited with creating the first non-G.M.O. slow-roasted meat bar made from local grass-fed beef and free-range chicken.
 

Wilde Brands, Boulder, Colo., makes protein snacks and is credited with creating the first non-G.M.O. slow-roasted meat bar made from local grass-fed beef and free-range chicken. The company’s newest product is the Chicken Chip, a salty snack featuring the taste and texture of a potato-based chip.

Sabrina Merage, Echo Capital Group
Sabrina Merage, principal of Echo Capital Group

“The Echo team is thrilled to partner with an innovative snack company like Wilde Brands,” said Sabrina Merage, principal of Echo. “We believe that Wilde is at the forefront of the better-for-you, high-protein snacking trend and that consumers will love what this Boulder-based company has to offer.”

Echo Capital’s other portfolio companies include Quinn Snacks, Boomerang’s Pies, Stack Wine, Flo and Bucketfeet.