Plant-based ready meal maker Allplants is teetering on the edge of collapse and is working with insolvency advisors to explore all options for the brand’s survival.
The business filed a notice of intention (NOI) to appoint an administrator with the courts on 18 November.
An NOI is typically used to give distressed companies breathing space from creditors while attempting to agree a rescue deal.
Founder Jonathan Petrides told The Grocer the senior leadership team were “working tirelessly” with recovery firm Interpath to explore “all possible options for restructuring, refinancing and ensuring the sustainability of Allplants”.
The Grocer understands there is one potential buyer lined up to save the business, but if a deal cannot be reached it will be placed into administration, where all its remaining stock will be traded to raise funds for creditors.
Allplants has raised £67m since Petrides launched the business in 2016, with a number of venture capital firms and thousands of crowd investors now facing steep losses.
The business received an additional £2m injection of funds in June this year from its existing backers, which include Molten Ventures. Felix Capital and The Craftory. It came on top of a multimillion-pound fundraising in the summer of 2023 as the business finalised an extension to its 43,000 sq ft factory in east London.
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Allplants racked up heavy losses over the years, registering a £9.9m deficit in the seven months to 31 March 2023 as revenues declined to just £4.1m, according to the latest accounts filed at Companies House. It followed losses of £11m in the previous year.
Petrides said at the time that the 2022/23 trading period was “undoubtedly the most intensively choppy waters we’ve ever sailed the Allplants ship through”.
He told The Grocer today: “As board directors we recognise the gravity of the situation.
“While we are navigating the best path through, our focus is on continuing to deliver the best possible service to our customers while protecting the interests of our creditors, employees and shareholders.”
Allplants has transitioned from a pureplay DTC brand into an omnichannel business, operating across retail and foodservice, with listings at Ocado and independents, as well as with q-commerce sites such as Deliveroo Hop and Zapp.
However, it has struggled to transition from its capital-intensive model amid a storm of macro-economic challenges and a downturn in demand for the plant-based category.
The brand is the latest in the vegan space to run into trouble, with a number collapsing in 2023, including Meatless Farm, which had also raised huge sums from investors.
Allplants has completed six rounds of fundraising since 2016, including a £38m series B raise in 2021 as it rode the crest of the online pandemic boom and £4.5m from more than 2,000 crowd backers on Seedrs in 2020, which was the UK’s biggest vegan crowdfunding campaign at the time.
However, when the business raised the additional money in June 2023 it was forced to slash its valuation dramatically, as revealed by The Grocer. The round pushed down Allplants’ value to just £9.5m
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