A popular Australian food supplier has collapsed after more than three decades in business.
The five companies trading as The Essential Ingredient entered voluntary administration on Thursday.
This comes just days after award-winning dairy manufacturer Beston Global Food Company announced it was entering voluntary administration.
The Essential Ingredient employed 60 people before it went bust and featured as a specialty foods brand on hit show Masterchef Australia.
The company was founded in 1986 and sells kitchenware, cooking equipment and cookbooks from local and international suppliers.
It had three stores, an online store and a wholesale business for the food service and retail sectors before collapsing after 34 years.
Robert Ditrich, Rebecca Gill and Craig Crosbie of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Australia have been appointed as voluntary administrators.
Essential Ingredient directors Syd Weddell and Peter Walmsley described the collapse as a “huge disappointment”.
Businesses trading as The Essential Ingredient entered voluntary administration on Thursday after 34 years of trading (pictured is a retail store)
The Essential Ingredient (pictured) employed 60 people before its collapse and featured as a specialty foods brand on hit show Masterchef Australia.
The company has been unable to return to pre-Covid profitability despite some post-pandemic investments in growth, the directors said.
“We are committed to working with PwC and our talented staff to continue serving our valued clients,” they said.
Administrators said the company had faced a “challenging” operating environment.
“The legacy of inventory losses during the Covid shutdown and higher operating costs have impacted profitability,” Ditrich said.
“Our aim is to act quickly to preserve the business and as many jobs as possible. We intend to continue to market and sell the business and assets as a going concern and we expect there will be strong interest from potential buyers.”
This comes three days after dairy brand Beston Global Food Company, which supplies Coles, Woolworths and IGA, announced it had gone bust.
KPMG has taken control of the award-winning company, which is among South Africa’s largest exporters of dairy products.
The Essential Ingredient had three stores (pictured), an online store and a wholesale business serving the food service and retail industry before collapsing after 34 years.
Beston Global Food Company, which makes Edwards Crossing (pictured) and Mabel’s cheeses, has entered voluntary administration
In addition to its well-known cheeses, the company also sold whey protein and lactoferrin to supplement manufacturers, including Chinese baby formula makers, and its factories produced milk and butter.
Beston blamed its collapse on high energy costs and a drop in milk prices at the farm gate. It also said successive interest rate hikes over the past two years had increased the company’s debts.
The manufacturer has two factories in Jervois, south-east of Adelaide, and in Murray Bridge, as well as established relationships with dairy farmers in South Africa and western Victoria and with international buyers.
It had been in talks with Japanese dairy giant Megamilk Snow Brand to buy the Jervois production plant, but negotiations fell through last week.