Founded in 2016, Pasta Evangelists is a DTC fresh pasta business, which grew its 2021 revenues by 86% year on year, after being acquired by Barilla. It has benefited from retail partnerships with Harrods and Ocado, a pandemic boom for e-commerce, and the expansion of its takeaway business, which consists of freshly cooked pasta meals available via Deliveroo. Pasta Evangelists’ DTC customers can order individual meals or sign up to a subscription package. The brand recently became one of the first to launch on TikTok Food, finding yet another way to reach its audience.

Pasta Evangelists CEO and co-founder, Alessandro Savelli, said the group has increased brand awareness which has helped it mitigate a slowdown in the DTC market in 2022. It is expected to grow by about 30% this year, becoming the biggest pasta brand in the UK by revenues, as it pivots from DTC to focus on its grocery business and takeaway.

The brand has had to pass on some increased costs to its consumers, but as a premium brand it wants to ensure it does not lose customers who are tightening their purse strings, so is looking for ways to improve efficiency elsewhere so it can keep prices down. The business is continuing to invest in marketing to support its growth.