Nestlé USA has acquired New York-based prepared meals supplier Freshly in a $950m deal.

Established in 2015, Freshly offers fresh, chef-cooked meals to customers across the US.

It currently distributes more than one million meals in a week to its customers located across 48 US states.

Nestlé USA chairman and CEO Steve Presley said: “We are excited to welcome Freshly to the Nestlé family. Consumers are embracing e-commerce and eating at home like never before. It’s an evolution brought on by the pandemic but taking hold for the long-term.

“Freshly is an innovative, fast-growing, food-tech startup, and adding them to the portfolio accelerates our ability to capitalise on the new realities in the US food market and further positions Nestlé to win in the future.”

In 2017, Nestlé acquired nearly a 16% stake in Freshly as part of its strategic move to evaluate and test the burgeoning market.

Nestlé USA is expected to combine its R&D capabilities with Freshly’s consumer analytics platform and distribution network to create new growth opportunities within the Freshly business and across Nestlé’s portfolio.

Freshly CEO Michael Wystrach said: “We are extremely excited to expand our relationship with Nestlé.

“Our mission is to make eating healthy easy by bringing nutritious, high-quality meals directly to customers’ homes. Convenience and nutrition are driving forces in the future of food, and our becoming a part of the world’s largest food company confirms that.

“With Nestlé, we will have access to resources, research and development, and years of experience that we can tap into to catapult our growth plans and move closer to our goal of being in every household in America.”

The deal was signed and closed on 30 October.

Last month, Freshly announced its plans to expand its food manufacturing operations by opening a new facility in the City of Commerce, California.