Frozen ready meal challenger Allplants has officially entered administration today, with 65 staff losing their jobs and investors facing losses of almost £70m.
It follows a report by The Grocer yesterday that the business was on the verge of collapse and was working with advisors at Interpath in an attempt to secure a rescue deal.
Those efforts proved fruitless and Will Wright and Howard Smith from the insolvency firm were appointed as joint administrators to Allplants Ltd this afternoon.
Interpath intend to trade the business for a short period to sell all the remaining stock, but all 65 staff have been made redundant as production at the east London factory ceased. It follows earlier job losses as the business tried to cut costs and slim down its employee base, which totalled 175 workers in 2022.
The firm will continue to seek a buyer for the remaining assets, including the Allplants brand.
Administrators said the company had faced “trading headwinds” in recent years, in common with many others in the plant-based category.
After a period of sustained losses, the company directors sought to explore their strategic options, including the possibility of a sale or refinancing, Interpath added. “However, when a solvent solution could not be found, they took the difficult decision to seek the appointment of administrators,” the firm said.
Allplants has raised £67m from a number of venture capital firms and thousands of crowd investors since Jonathan Petrides launched the business in 2016.
It has grown over nine years into an omnichannel operator, with its range of frozen vegan meals available online and with more than 100 retail outlets, as well as via q-commerce.
However, losses have piled up as revenues declined and costs mounted.
According to the latest available accounts, for the seven months to 31 March 2023, Allplants registered a £9.9m loss as sales fell to £4.1m. Its costs for the period totalled more than £13m as it struggled to move away from its capital-intensive model, including running a large 43,000 sq ft factory.
The accounts revealed staff costs almost equalled revenues at close to £3m. At its height, the company employed about 175 staff.
Allplants also had loans of more than £8m due and owed creditors in excess of £4m at end of the financial period. It is unclear how much creditors are owed today or how much will be available for repayment. But the investors who funded the company with £67m across six rounds, will not see a return on that investment.
“Allplants has grown to become a well-known and popular brand, with its range of ethically produced, healthy, plant-based ready-meals,” said Interpath UK CEO Will Wright.
“Indeed, in recent years, the company was successful in being awarded B Corp status, in recognition of its enhanced commitments to sustainability and environmental goals. Unfortunately, however, the economic headwinds that have impacted many UK businesses over the past 12 months have been too challenging for the company to overcome.”
An email message went out to Allplants customers at lunch today, titled: “This could be farewell.”
“Our passion was and still is proving that eating more plants doesn’t have to mean boring bland food or wasting your muscles away,” Petrides said in the message. “It can be a nutritional powerhouse and a fiesta, not a fast.
“But with over eight million meals of magic served, we are devastated to share that after a long hard fight for survival, the Allplants kitchen is on the brink of closing down.”
The business is now holding a ‘closing down sale’, offering its remaining stock with 30% off online.
Allplants worked with Melissa Hemsley and created a range of meals in partnership with the influencer as the brand’s chef-in-residence.
In an Instagram post today, Hemsley said: “It’s devasating… I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand what went so horribly wrong especially given the range itself has been so susccessful.”
She added: “I’ve been chuffed to receive fantastic feedback and reviews from customers and from press, and meals have been flying off the shelves… which makes it all the harder, in some ways, as I will not now be making a penny for my efforts.”
Hemsley complained that she received “a small up-front fee” on the understanding she’d get further royalties for each meal sold.
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