Meatless Farm on brink of collapse amid slump in vegan market

Vegan food company Meatless Farm has stopped trading and let its staff go after it was unable to survive in the tough meat-free market.

Meatless Farm, which makes vegan sausages, mince, and burgers, hired restructuring specialists Kroll in May in hopes of finding a buyer for the business as it faced running out of cash.The company, whose LinkedIn indicates employs around 100 staff, let go of many of them on Friday (9), according to sources close to the situation. The exact number of redundancies is not known.

Meatless Farm filed notice that it planned to appoint administrators on May 31. The plant-based alternative food maker was stocked in major stores across the UK.

In 2021 at its peak, it sold over £11m worth of its plant-based mince, burgers and chicken breasts. The firm’s demise comes amid a wider slump in demand for meat alternatives.

Insolvency firm Kroll is now advising the firm on its options, as the company’s website says it is “currently unavailable”.

Commercial director Tim Offer said on his Linkedin profile: “Sadly, my time at Meatless Farm has come to an end… the business has unfortunately made all the teams redundant.”

His comments were echoed by the company’s interim finance executive John Loughrey who said he and other colleagues were looking for their “next assignment”.

“Sadly things have not worked out for Meatless Farm so I am now looking for my next assignment, as will numerous other colleagues,” reports quoted Interim finance executive John Loughrey as saying.

“I have had a great time in a fantastic company, and have had the honour and pleasure of working with some amazing people. It is a shame the company has not made it through this difficult period and I wish all my former colleagues the best of luck for the future.”