Sustainable coffee logs supplier Bio-Bean has collapsed under the weight of inflationary pressures and a fire at its waste coffee recycling factory.
The supplier, which makes fuel from recycled coffee grounds, appointed KRE Corporate Recovery as administrator this month, having failed to secure new funding.
It is understood Bio-Bean, which had previously secured investment from PE player Gresham House and Ignite Social Enterprise, had been running a sales process to find a buyer.
However, a fire at its coffee grounds recycling plant in Cambridgeshire in late March scuppered investment plans as vital machinery was damaged.
It is thought about 30 staff were made redundant as part of the administration process, leaving only skeleton staff remaining.
The administrator is understood to be running a sales process for the assets of the company, which may include the brand and intellectual property being acquired to form a new venture.
The administrator did not reply to a request for comment.
Bio-Bean had supplied recycled coffee logs to major supermarkets, including Tesco and Waitrose, as well as DIY stores and garden centres.
It had a supply contract with Costa Coffee to recycle its coffee grounds, but it is understood it ran into capacity constraints due to difficulties signing up other major coffee players to recycle their waste grounds.
Despite scaling up to selling 5,000 tonnes annually, the group was understood not to have reached profitability.
It was further hit by a sharp escalation in costs last year, particularly related to energy and the bespoke machinery required to dry the spent coffee grounds.
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