Hawaiian fresh food chain Poked falls into insolvency as Covid-19 bites

Hawaiian food chain Poked is the latest victim of the economic pain of Covid-19, falling into insolvency and leaving 50 staff potentially out of work.

The Poked restaurant chain prided itself on using the most sustainable and the freshest possible Australian produce. Picture: Rob Wright

The damage wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic and protracted lockdowns have claimed another victim, with the collapse of Hawaiian themed restaurant chain Poked, which could see its 50 staff looking for new jobs.

Matthew Kucianski of insolvency firm Worrells has been put in place to oversee the business, with the Poked food chain’s network of eight restaurants closed on Wednesday. The chain is now in the process of a liquidation.

Poked opened its first store in 2016 and soon expanded to six stores in Melbourne and three in Sydney, specialising in fresh salads with salmon, sashimi or chicken-based dishes and most of its stores located in or near CBDs.

The restaurant chain prided itself on using the most sustainable and the freshest possible Australian produce, and strong links to its suppliers, such as its salad that was sourced from Somerville or its salmon that was delivered daily from 100 per cent sustainable farms and tuna from one of the only MSC-certified fisheries in Australia.

But all that has come to naught as the cities empty of workers who once would eat at Poked or any other city eateries and are instead working from home and buying their lunches in the suburbs. It was its network heavily based in the Melbourne and Sydney CBDs that looks to have hurt the business as the cities endured months of lockdown.

Poked is understood to have total tax debts across the group of around $1m as well as some employee entitlements for its 50 staff while landlords are also owed money for store rents. Company directors were hopeful for a restructure but a positive outcome for the stores and staff looks increasingly unlikely in the present economic climate, where Melbourne and Sydney CBDs are still suffering from low rates of workers returning to their offices.

Originally published as Hawaiian fresh food chain Poked falls into insolvency as Covid-19 bites