Health food wholesaler Tree of Life has fallen into administration following a failed attempt to secure third party investment earlier this year.

A statement on the Tree of Life website confirmed it had appointed Chris Pole and Ryan Grant of Interpath Advisory as joint administrators on 22 August 2022 for Tree of Life UK.

“The affairs, business and property of the company are being managed by the joint administrators,” the short statement reads.

There is no such statement on the site of parent company Health Made Easy or retail sister company The Health Store.

Both Interpath and Tree of Life have been contacted for comment.

The Grocer reported in July that Tree of Life owner Health Made Easy was locked in talks with lenders to agree new facilities and secure its future.

Chairman Michael Cole told The Grocer at the time that Health Made Easy was looking to realign its banking facilities to “fit and support its revised strategy”.

“The group is facing up to the challenging circumstances of inflation impact and supply issues, as are many businesses at this time,” he said.

“We are working collaboratively alongside our long-standing suppliers and customers.”

Health Made Easy previously hired mid-market M&A advisor FinnCap Cavendish in 2020 to explore the potential sale of the company and capitalise on strong 2020/21 growth, but the process ended without success.

Health Made Easy is the UK’s largest health and wellness distributor, supplying hundreds of brands and more than 15,000 SKUs to retailers.

The group bought health-focused wholesaler Tree of Life in 2011, adding The Health Store, vitamins, minerals and supplements brand Higher Nature and health-focused chewing gum and confectionery maker Peppersmith in 2018.

Health Made Easy revenues grew to more than £100m in its most recently filed accounts in the year to 28 March 2020.

Tree of Life itself had revenues of £56.6m in the same financial period, making a pre-tax profit of £783k.

The 2020/21 accounts for the group and its subsidiaries are more than two months overdue at Companies House as it sought to renegotiate terms with its lenders.

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