The Beet and Forks Over Knives Are Now Part of Upbeet Brands™

The Beet has just announced our merger with Forks Over Knives, under a new company called Upbeet Brands™. We are honored and thrilled to be in the same corporate family with this venerated plant-based lifestyle platform, Forks Over Knives, which has pointed the way to eating a whole-food, plant-based diet for the sake of health. The two platforms will continue to operate independently and help their respective audiences find healthier plant-based nutrition choices. Check out the full story of the creation of Upbeet Brands and the joining of two great plant-based platforms, here:

Fueled by the exploding popularity of plant-based living, lifestyle platforms Forks Over Knives and The Beet announced their merger and formation of Upbeet Brands. Andrew Rogers, a seasoned digital media expert and business executive, joins the combined company as CEO. Under the Upbeet umbrella, both entities will retain their distinct brand identities and missions, while expanding on their combined footprint of more than three million unique visitors to their websites each month and millions of social media followers.

Upbeet will capitalize on common themes and develop the enormous potential of its brands’ complementary customer bases, including marketing synergies and new business lines. “We have multiple new businesses developing under Upbeet. Of course, the immediate focus will be integrating The Beet and Forks Over Knives. We plan to explore content and traffic-sharing, broadening support to our shared communities, building cross-brand advertising products, unification of our technology platforms, and other efficiencies,” explains Andrew Rogers.

Rogers stresses that the long-term goals for Upbeet are centered on “expanding our audience base and strengthening our communities by delivering comprehensive and customizable plant-based lifestyle programs featuring world-class education, inspirational tools, and training products, along with access to a wide assortment of curated plant-based food and nutrition products.” A recent convert to plant-based living, Rogers previously served as president of iconic watercraft brand Hobie Cat. Rogers also co-founded the popular hobbyist website Craftsy.com and held leadership positions at companies such as Yahoo, Priceline, and HomeAdvisor.

Rogers will lead as CEO in partnership with Brian Wendel, founder and president of Forks Over Knives, and Lucy Danziger, Editorial Director and Chief Content Officer of The Beet. Based in Santa Monica, California, Forks Over Knives is a leading global multimedia brand in food and health which began with an award-winning 2011 documentary film and steadily expanded into bestselling books, a magazine, a mobile app, and a website that has become one of the most popular health and wellness destinations.

The Beet, based in New York City, was launched in January 2020 as a complete guide to eating a more plant-based diet for the sake of better health and the planet, covering the latest plant-based news, health studies, product reviews, and offering expert advice and inspiring lifestyle stories.

Where the mission of Forks Over Knives is focused on utilizing a whole-food, plant-based diet to prevent and reverse disease, The Beet seeks to connect with broad audiences looking to explore better health through adopting a more plant-based diet. The shared alignment of their missions has been steadily embraced by modern consumers.

“The number of consumers who are eating more plant-based for health and well-being is growing every day, and more than half of Americans say they are open to eating more plant-based foods,” says Lucy Danziger. Danziger has grown The Beet from its launch to nearly two million unique monthly users and an engagement of nearly 15 million monthly page views. Prior to launching The Beet, she served as Editor-in-Chief of SELF magazine for 13 years and is also founder of the personal shopping app Hinted, co-author of the bestselling book, The Nine Rooms of Happiness, and past president of the American Society of Magazine Editors.

Brian Wendel founded and grew Forks Over Knives, beginning with his influential 2011 documentary film, which made the case that chronic ailments can be treated by adopting a whole-food, plant-based diet, into a multimedia brand offering an array of tools to make plant-based living easy and enjoyable.

“The creation of Upbeet Brands is designed to share the joy of plant-based living with as many people as possible” offered Brian Wendel. “The goal of the merged company is to serve the growing masses of people seeking to incorporate more plants for a variety of reasons by providing them with best-in-class products and services. The Forks and Beet brands working together can maximize reach and lead to a more vibrant, healthier, and conscious world.” A capital raise to support the merger was led by Gather Ventures, a leading VC in the plant-based space, with participation by 25madison, an NYC-based venture studio.