Rosa Foods, the food manufacturing company, has gone into liquidation.
Justin Lemmens, the original founder of Rosa Foods, commented that Rosa Foods had been placed into administration earlier in the year. At the same time, the company had sought an investor or buyer, which was unsuccessful.
Lemmens, the CEO of Sustainable Foods, also clarified that there was no ongoing material relationship between Rosa Foods and Sustainable Foods which was incorporated in 2019. Each is a separate legal entity with different ownership.
The CEO established that Sustainable Foods had developed valued partnerships with the New Zealand plant-based protein sector and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, where extensive discussions of all risk areas had been conducted. Lemmens emphasised that Sustainable Foods continue to grow in the plant-based sector and are focused on using New Zealand-grown ingredients.
Rosa Foods and Sustainable Foods have fundamentally different business models. Lemmens stated that Sustainable Foods is focused on high-value nutrition with New Zealand-grown ingredients, emphasising investment in technology and developing IP that has enabled the company to produce innovative products with more cost-effective methods.
Rosa Foods has a proud history of growth as a New Zealand business over the last 22 years. The company began as a start-up and has accumulated nearly NZD 100 million in combined revenue since 2000.
"Rosa Foods became a trusted brand in its category serving over 30 million meals, employing over 1000 staff, and purchasing ingredients, packaging and associated services of NZD 65 million from other New Zealand businesses," stated Lemmens.
Lemmens had created a clear, transparent, and honest dialogue with Rosa Foods staff throughout the business's journey, particularly from January until early March, when employment within the company ceased.
"Rosa has always been a tight team. It's been tough across the board, but the whole team has been supportive and positive. We were able to help a large part of the team secure new employment before their employment with Rosa finished."
The CEO elaborated that the challenges Rosa Foods faced were underpinned by the difficulty in sourcing labour over the last three years. The inflation of ingredient costs and services and supply chain disruption put significant pressure on the company. Furthermore, the business had moved to new premises to scale up, which came at a high relocation cost.
The constrained labour market resulted in the business needing further capital to grow, with shareholders investing significant funds to aid the business through the challenges of the last three years. However, despite these efforts and commitment within the company, it was not enough to successfully help Rosa Foods make it through the challenging period.
