Vegan food brand backed by Chris Smalling smashes crowdfunding target – Man United News And Transfer News

4

A vegan food brand backed by former Manchester United defender Chris Smalling, alongside others including ITV, has smashed its crowdfunding target.

The Englishman, who now plays his football in Rome, famously switched to a plant-based diet in 2017 and has not looked back since.

Speaking to PETA on his decision to radically change his diet the United man who made 323 appearances for the club claimed, I realised how brutal [animal agriculture] is to animals, how unnecessary it is to us, and how damaging it is to the environment”.

“Ultimately it’s the animal welfare that kicked me on to make sure that this is my lifestyle now”.

However, the defender has also spoken out on how he feels his new eating habits have transformed his injury history and recovery time.

“I think it is a blend of a lot of things and I think my diet is a big factor in that. I think it helps me to recover quicker and the fact we play every two or three days, I did feel fresher”.

“I had a lot of tendinitis in my knee, and then once I went fully vegan, all those symptoms just dropped away”.

Now the Roma player has made it his mission to help spread the word of veganism and has successfully backed a new company THIS, based in London.

CityA.M report that the company “has secured more than £1m so far through its Seedrs campaign, with just under a month left to run”.

“The vegan-focused food company had originally targeted to raise £750,000 and has now secured the backing of over 1,300 investors on the platform”.

“Former Manchester United footballer Chris Smalling invested in THIS in 2020 as part of a number of backers who put £3.5m into the business. Other backers include the likes of ITV, BGF, CTP Capital and ECG Venture Capital”.

In 2022, THIS posted a turnover of £13m.

Smalling has also been involved in financially backing other vegan products across the world, as he invested a six figure sum in Catalan plant-based meat company Heura.

Speaking on the former United defender’s involvement, Heura co-founder Marc Coloma stated, “we are thrilled to have Chris on board and look forward to working towards a plant-based future together – one which is better for our planet and our health”.