U.S. plant-based food business Tattooed Chef is seeking a buyer after failing to raise funds to secure its future, Just Food reported. The private-label and branded manufacturer, set up in 2018, plans to file chapter 11 protection in California, and “intends to pursue a sale of substantially all of its assets”, Tattooed Chef announced in a statement on Friday. While the company will continue to operate for the time being, an undisclosed number of employees at its plants in California and New Mexico have been “provided notice of intended layoffs.” Before initiating the chapter 11 proceedings, Tattooed Chef said that it “evaluated a wide range of funding possibilities”, despite receiving $12m in unsecured loans from chairman and CEO Sam Galletti. Tattooed Chef joins UK-based The Meatless Farm, which also failed to raise new funds and consequently ended up selling its meat-free brand to peer VFC Foods last month with the company remaining in a state of bankruptcy. Another plant-based business, The Very Good Food Company in Canada, collapsed in January.
