Vegan food maker Meatless Farm lays off nearly all employees

The meat-free farm is steadily growing in sales, but it hasn't become profitable yet. Photo: JASON CAIRNDUFF/REUTERS

The plant-based meat maker laid off most of its staff due to falling demand for vegan products.

Meatless Farm, which produces vegan sausages, minced meat and hamburgers, has hired specialists to restructure Kroll in May is hoping to find a buyer for the business as he runs out of cash.

The company, which has about 100 employees according to LinkedIn, laid off many of them on Friday, people close to the situation said. . The exact number of layoffs is unknown.

Meatless Farm has filed a notice that it plans to appoint administrators on May 31, but it is known that an administrator has not yet been appointed.

The company was founded by Danish entrepreneur Morten Toft-Bech in 2016, when demand began to grow in the UK plant-based products.

In addition to vegan sausages, minced meat and hamburgers, the company has launched products including vegan brownies, plant-based ravioli and chicken-free Christmas roast.

Sales have grown steadily in recent years, but the business has failed. to make a profit. Its latest results show revenue nearly doubled from £7.5m to £12.5m in 2021, but losses increased from £15.4m to £23.5m.

< img src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/fe7a7b96db3f0e2d8f2650ae39f3d287 .jpg" /> Founder Morten Toft-Beck had trouble raising funds after a major investor dropped out

Since its inception, the company has raised around £40m from investors through numerous crowdfunding campaigns to support its growth.

Mr Toft-Beck told The Grocer that a major investor has stepped down from a major financial commitment to the company .
This «caught the MF board and management team by surprise,» he said. Meatless Farm is doing very well, but the lack of cash is hard to manage given the short time frame we got from the investor to fix this problem.”

This comes amid a wider downturn in the vegan food market. .

Yorkshire sausage maker Heck recently reduced its plant-based range from 15 to around 2, citing lack of demand.

Major supermarkets are also cutting sales. According to Assosia, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose and Sainsbury's cut meat-free food sales by 10.9% in the six months to March 20, according to Assosia.

Kroll declined to comment.< /p>

Kroll declined to comment.

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