A celebrity endorsed alternative meat producer making a name in the alternative food market is vowing to keep its huge Thornton production plant open after giving notice it may have to lay off its 150-employees and shutter the facility.
Meati Foods – which is headquartered in Boulder – stated Friday the drastic fiscal measures are being forced on the company, which produces high-protein, high-fiber and nutrient-dense meats using mycelium – a muscular root structure of fungi – as its single main ingredient, according to BizWest.
“We are taking this action because our lender unexpectedly removed cash from our accounts and took control of the remaining cash reserves on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, and the action was not reasonably foreseeable,” the company stated in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice filed Friday with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. “Based on this action we do not have sufficient funding to continue operating. The result of the lender’s unexpected action is that we have to shut down our manufacturing facility.”
The company said the “first termination” at the Thornton site will occur on May 6.
“We would have liked to have given you more advanced notice of this action but were unable to do so because out lender’s actions were wholly unanticipated and unforeseeable,” the company states.
Seeking new financing
Meati was legally forced to issue the WARN notice to employees last Friday.
Company officials said Tuesday Meati Foods is not finished producing its highly regarded protein alternatives and that financing will materialize. Meati is actively in discussion with investors, they said.
“We firmly believe in our mission and that mycelium will change the protein paradigm. While we’re unclear on the future, we hope for the sake of consumers and the planet that Meati’s mission will endure,” – a Meati spokesperson said Tuesday.
“Let us be clear: we are not sitting idle,” CEO Phil Graves states in an email to staff. “We are actively pursuing multiple funding opportunities with our board and both existing and potential new investors.”
Meati, which is trade name used by Emergy Inc., is unlike traditional meat alternatives, which typically attempt to mimic products such as chicken nuggets or ground beef, BizWest states. Meati’s products replicate whole cuts of meat such as chicken breasts, steak, jerky and pork tenderloin, according to BizWest.
Graves told AgFunderNews in January that Meati Foods almost doubled revenues in 2024 vs 2023 and is on course to achieve positive gross margins by the end of the year.
Meati – which has attracted $356 million in funding – worked through four “painful” rounds of layoffs over the past two years in a bid to streamline operations and accelerate a path to profitability, Graves stated.
Meati also launched a new line of breakfast patties into 280 Sprouts stores nationwide and secured new listings in 118 Raleys stores and 250 Harris Teeter. In all, Meati found its way to around 7,000 doors, Graves told AgFunderNews.
“Thanks for our team and the product itself, we have increased our distribution by 130% year over year, from 23 to 24,” Graves stated.
Meati has attracted some high-profile investors including Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Derek Jeter, celebrity chef Rachael Ray and former White House senior policy advisor for nutrition Sam Kass, according to BizWest.