Canadian plant-based protein bar maker Trubar has entered an acquisition agreement with Turkish consumer goods company Eti Gıda in a C$201M ($143M) deal.
On the back of a year of explosive growth, when revenues hit $50M and its products reached over 15,000 stores, Trubar and its vegan protein bars are heading back into private ownership.
The TSX Venture Exchange-listed company has signed an agreement to be taken over by Eti Gıda, a Turkey-based consumer goods giant, in a deal worth around C$201M ($143M). The latter will purchase all outstanding common shares in Trubar.
The all-cash transaction is expected to be completed in Q1 2026, with each share delivering C$1.26 to the company’s holders. Once approved by courts and shareholders, the company will be delisted from the stock exchange.
Erica Groussman, founder and CEO of Trubar, noted that Eti Gıda’s deep CPG experience and resources will help the brand advance its growth in North America and expand into international markets.
“We are very excited about the proposed acquisition of TRUBAR by Eti Gıda and beginning a new chapter in our journey,” she said. “I am incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished in building a strong brand presence in the protein bar market.”
Trubar’s seed-oil-free, high-fibre protein bars find success in GLP-1 era
Based in Vancouver, Groussman founded Trubar in 2018, building a protein bar brand that emphasised clean-label ingredients and targeted busy, health-conscious consumers.
Its plant-based products are free from dairy, soy, gluten (three of the most common allergens in the US), sugar alcohols, and seed oils. The latter is a particularly vilified ingredient group among Americans, thanks in large part to health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has suggested that these fats have “unknowingly poisoned” people and instead championed saturated animal fats.
Trubar’s products are made from a base of tapioca fibre and cassava, and a blend of brown rice and pea protein, which are complemented with organic cane sugar, RSPO-certified palm oil, sunflower lecithin, nuts, and other ingredients. The company currently offers 12 flavours, with a 50g bar containing 12g each of protein and fibre. And this year, it launched a kid-focused line too.
After three years of operating Trubar as a bootstrapped business, Groussman sold the brand to Simply Better Brands, keeping less than 10% of ownership of the parent company but retaining the role of Trubar CEO.
The newfound institutional support boosted the brand’s growth, so much so that Simply Better Brands rebranded to Trubar earlier this year. The firm now sells more than 50 million protein bars a year, as Americans’ appetite for protein and fibre expands in the GLP-1 era.
Trubar’s protein bars can be found everywhere from independent stores to big-box retailers like Target and Walmart, and its growth has garnered it pop-culture relevance too: the company teamed up with Universal to launch co-branded protein bars in line with the release of Wicked Good.
Trubar the latest M&A event in alternative protein sector
Trubar’s sales have gone from strength to strength. After recording $50M in revenues 2024, the company already surpassed $49M in sales in the first nine months of 2025, while cutting its losses by 61% compared to the same period a year ago.
Now, it is planning to hit $100M in annual revenue in 2026, and the impending sale to Eti Gıda will boost the company’s effort. The Turkish food producer operates nine facilities, employs 7,000 people, and manages 300 product lines across 45 brands. And in 2024, it posted $1.3B in sales.
“Eti Gıda is an ideal acquirer for Trubar at this stage in the brand’s development given [its] successful track record of scaling CPG brands over the last six decades,” said Trubar executive chairman Kingsley Ward.
“This proposed acquisition represents a significant milestone for our company and delivers on our commitment to creating strong value for shareholders,” he added.
Trubar’s sale is the latest example of consolidation in the alternative protein category, which has suffered from a slowdown in sales and investment over the last couple of years, particularly in the US. More than 50 companies in the sector have either been acquired (whether from a position of strength or otherwise), fallen into insolvency, or ceased operations over the last 14 months.
This month alone, Caulipower was snapped up by Paine Schwartz Partners subsidiary Urban Farmer, and Miyoko’s Creamery was bought out of liquidation by Melt Organic owner Prosperity Organic Foods (which beat a rival bid from the company’s founder and former CEO, Miyoko Schinner). Meanwhile, TiNDLE Foods pulled its meat alternatives from the US to focus on the private-label market in Europe.
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