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Australian company Proform Foods liquidated after administrative proceedings

Posted on by angelo
Australian company Proform Foods liquidated after administrative proceedings

Australian company Proform Foods liquidated after administrative proceedings
Australian plant-based meat brand Meet. Credit: Proform Foods.

Proform Foods has officially gone into liquidation after the Australian alternative meat company appointed administrators in May.

Following a final meeting of Proform Foods creditors on August 28, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said it had been “determined that the company be voluntarily wound up”.

A separate notice filed by ASIC the following day said liquidators had been appointed for Proform Foods, as well as Proform Food Group, Proform Gourmet and Proform Innovation.

Proform Foods, a Sydney, New South Wales-based company, was founded in 2005 by Stephen Dunn, initially as a research and development company supplying protein ingredients. It was later led by Dunn’s son, former Olympic swimmer Matt Dunn.

The MEET brand, which offers meat alternatives, was launched in 2008. This range included minced meat and beef-free burgers, as well as chicken-free tenders. Other brands in the portfolio were Protein Plate and Bad Hunter.

Proform Foods’ customers included retailers Woolworths and Coles, food delivery service Hello Fresh and burger chains in the foodservice sector.

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Administrators for the local arm of British financial consultancy KPMG were appointed on May 22. At the time, KPMG’s Gayle Dickerson and James Dampney told Australian media that Proform Foods was a “well-established business in a sector with compelling medium-term growth prospects.”

Proform Foods’ website says its products are based on “a proprietary, patented protein process – our competitive advantage is our Proform PHMC High Moisture Cooking Technology, which delivers plant-based meat cuts with superior taste and texture.”

In late 2021, Australian beef and seafood processor Harvest Road bought a minority stake in Proform Foods, a year after it opened a new manufacturing facility.

KMPG noted that the company employed about 30 people.

The global meatless market has recently undergone a consolidation process after a year of slowing growth and falling demand. A number of companies have gone bankrupt, but others, using new technologies such as precision fermentation, are evolving.

Planted in Switzerland, for example, this week announced plans to expand with a second plant in Germany.

Some, however, have not been so lucky. Akua, a New York startup that produced plant-based foods from kelp algae, shut down its operations in August.

Co-founder and CEO Courtney Boyd Meyers said in a message posted on her LinkedIn profile page that “our board of directors has made the very difficult decision to wind down the company.”

Several other plant-based protein companies have gone bankrupt in the past 12 months. Tattooed Chef in the United States is one example, while in neighbouring Canada, The Very Good Food Co. closed its doors last year.

In Europe, other examples include The Meatless Farm Co., Plant & Bean and LoveSeitan.

Meanwhile, amid declining demand for protein alternatives, Monde Nissin-owned meat-free brand Quorn also faced volume headwinds due to continued “weakness” in the category.

Similarly, Beyond Meat, a more established player in the meatless products sector in California, is also struggling to consolidate its volumes and generate profits.