Jobs lost as Leeds-based Meatless Farm becomes latest vegan meat brand to face difficulties

In its latest accounts, filed in April 2023, the firm employed roughly 50 staff. The exact number of jobs lost is currently unclear.

Writing on LinkedIn, commercial director Tim Offer said: “Sadly my time at Meatless Farm has come to an end [...] the business has unfortunately made all the teams redundant.”

Interim Finance Director John Loughrey also posted: “Sadly things have not worked out for The Meatless Farm so I am now looking for my next assignment, as will numerous other colleagues.”

The company’s website is also currently unavailable.

The firm’s latest accounts show that it made a loss of £23.5 million in 2021, increasing from a loss of £15.4 million the year prior.

Last month, Meatless Farm appointed consultancy firm Kroll in the hopes of securing a buyer to rescue the business.

This comes after last week, alternative protein manufacturer Plant and Bean Limited, which was previously based in North Yorkshire, entered administration,

The firm said issues relating to significant inflation and rising energy costs had led to its collapse.

Yorkshire-based Heck also recently announced that it was reducing its range of meat-free products down to two from an initial ten, citing a lack of sales for its vegan range.

Earlier this year, Nestle also announced that it was to stop selling its meat-free Garden Gourmet range in the UK.

Alternative protein manufacturer Beyond Meat also saw a slump in sales towards the end of last year, with revenues down 20.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of the year.

Meatless Farm was launched in Leeds in 2016 by Danish entrepreneur Morten Toft Bech.

In 2021, the firm ranked as one of Deloitte’s 50 fastest growing UK technology companies, the same year that it sold over £11 million worth of its plant-based meat alternatives.

Advisory firm Kroll was approached for comment.