Vegan entrepreneur Heather Mills has spoken of her devastation at the collapse of her meat-free food empire VBites Foods in which she personally invested "tens of millions of pounds".
Ms Mills first launched VBites 30 years and has been producing plant-based alternatives in the meat, fish and dairy free business-to-business and business-to-consumer sectors ever since, winning numerous international taste awards along the way. The company – which exports to more than 20 countries and counts Dominos, Applewood, Ocado, Morrisons, Spinneys and Greencore among its clients – has been making all of its products across factories in Corby, Northamptonshire, and Peterlee, County Durham - the former Walker Crisps factory in Peterlee which was acquired five years ago.
However, Ms Mills went on social media platforms to announce her sadness that V Bites Ltd was set to enter administration. She said: “It’s with great regret that I announce that after 30 years of pioneering plant-based production and innovation, VBites Foods Ltd., a company very dear to my heart, is entering into administration this week. Although I offered every solution I feasibly could to keep it going, sadly, VBites ultimately fell victim to the galvanised misinformation currently being undertaken by the meat and dairy industries as well as the corporate greed in our market.”
The announcement comes five years after Ms Mills revealed plans to ramp up production of VBites products and create new jobs after acquiring the Peterlee site, as part of a long-term vision to turn the region into the ‘Silicon Valley’ of vegan food.
A few years later, in December 2021 Ms Mills said she wanted to create more than 300 regional jobs after sealing a multimillion-pound investment partnership with a German food giant. Ms Mills struck the deal with Pfeifer & Langen Industrie und Handels KG, a £3bn turnover group which owns major brands including KP Foods, Monster Munch and Hula Hoops, which resulted in it taking a 25.1% minority stake in her plant-based food business VBites.
However, Ms Mills says efforts to keep the business going have been thwarted by a combination of factors, including “the cost of living crisis, price rises in the global ingredients and utilities markets and the current state of the manufacturing economy in Britain.”
Interpath Advisory announced that James Clark and Howard Smith were appointed joint administrators to VBites Foods Limited today, December 11. They said the company had seen increased pressure on cashflow due to the impact of rising raw material costs and energy prices, as well as a softening of consumer demand for alternative protein products in the wake of the cost-of-living crisis. The directors sought to explore their options, including making attempts to secure additional funding. Unfortunately, however, a funding agreement was unable to be reached, leaving the directors with no option but to seek the appointment of administrators.
The joint administrators said they continue to trade the site in Peterlee while they seek a buyer for the business and its assets. As a result, 29 members of staff based at the Peterlee site have been retained and 25 employees have been retained at the site in Corby, to help assist with the fulfilment of outstanding orders. Regrettably, however, 24 employees across the business have been made redundant.
James Clark, joint administrator and managing director at Interpath Advisory, said: “VBites is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of vegan food products but unfortunately, and in common with many other companies across the food manufacturing sector, had seen trading impacted by rising commodity and energy prices.
“Our immediate priority is to provide support and assistance to those employees impacted by redundancy, as well as seeking a buyer for the business and its assets. We would encourage any interested parties to make contact with us at the earliest opportunity.”
James Lumb, managing director who leads Interpath’s Newcastle office, added: “This is disappointing news for our local food manufacturing base, which has proven resilient in the face of challenging economic conditions.”
In a lengthy statement on the firm’s collapse, Ms Mills said: “This is extremely distressing for me on a personal level but also for my wonderfully loyal and hard-working staff. My team and I have undertaken 30 years of product creation and evolution as well as personally investing tens of millions of pounds into the business and offering every solution I feasibly could to keep it going, but sadly mine and my staff’s efforts have been thwarted by a demand that I stepped away from day to day management, in order to secure essential investment, and a combination of corporate greed and poor management.
"Anyone that knows me well, knows the blood, sweat and tears that my team and I have put into the business, for the sole purpose of furthering the plant based movement, of which we have been the pioneers for over 30 years and effecting a major shift in global human health, the preservation of the environment and the protection of animal welfare.
“The plight of VBites is not an isolated case and I think it’s important to take stock and highlight the various factors that are contributing to the struggles of companies like ours in the current market. There are learnings we can assimilate and actions we are to take if we are to ensure that the movement course corrects and grows for the greater good.”
Going forward, Ms Mills calls for unity in the plant-based industry, “as a force for good and promotion of the facts”, and says the sector needs to work harder to demonstrate the long term profitability of plant based farming and manufacturing to the meat and dairy industries.
She also claims Brexit “has been an utter disaster” for the supply and maintenance of the plant-based sector, adding: “As you can most likely tell this is a passionate topic for me and I am hopeful that as a unified force we can turn things around - and hopefully before it is too late. And my last words are to the loyal VBites staff. Thank you for the years of unwavering effort, thank you for the belief and I hope that you can take some solace from knowing that you have had a huge positive impact on the world through the work that you have done over the last 30 years.”
