National fresh food business stocked in major supermarkets goes into administration

A national food manufacturing business, which appears to have more than 500 staff working for it, has gone bust.

A national food manufacturing business, which appears to have more than 500 staff working for it, has gone bust.

Four businesses that make up the HS Fresh Food brand appointed administrators late last week.

Those companies are HS Fresh Food Pty Ltd, HS Fresh Food Holding Pty Ltd, HS Fresh Farms Pty Ltd and HS Salads Pty Ltd.

Headquartered in Tasmania, the HS Fresh Food Group has operations in five states, in NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia.

It specialises in supplying ready-made deli foods and salads to supermarkets, including Woolworths, Coles and IGAs, among others.

The fresh food company has several well-known brands under its banner – Houston’s Farm, which is where the business started from, Sunfresh and Gourmet Selections.

Ben Campbell, Joanne Dunn and Vaughan Strawbridge of restructuring firm FTI Consulting have been appointed as administrators.

The insolvency appointment was filed with ASIC on Monday.

The group makes ready-to-eat deli and salads for consumers.

Some of the major grocery chains where Sunfresh salads can be found stocked on the shelves.

FTI Consulting said the group of businesses was a “leading player” in the food industry.

Operations at HS Fresh Food will continue while administrators look to restructure or sell the business.

“We are working with HS Fresh Food Group’s management team and staff, and other stakeholders to continue operations while we secure the future of the business,” Mr Strawbridge, one of the appointed administrators, said.

He added that he was “exploring all options available” to save the business.

News.com.au has asked how many staff worked for the company and the initial estimates of its assets and liabilities.

According to LinkedIn, the hospitality group has between 500 and 1000 staff working there.

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Houston’s Farm also supplied ready-to-eat deli-made meals.

The group of business continue to trade.

A number of major Australian hospitality businesses are falling over amid the turbulent economic times.

At the end of last month, BCN Events Group entered liquidation. It was a Brisbane-based hospitality group which operated seven venues specialising in bakery goods.

In May, a popular restaurant in Sydney, Lucky Kwong, headed by iconic chef Kylie Kwong, announced it was shutting down.

That same month, the Botswana Butchery chain which operated as a high-end steak restaurant across three cities went bust, with debts of more than $23 million and more than 200 staff sacked.

Last month, after 18 years in business, Melbourne Asian fusion restaurant Gingerboy shut down blaming “market pressures since Covid lockdowns”.

News.com.au also recently spoke to a hospitality insider who said he was deciding if he was going to liquidate his business in the next 48 hours because things were so dire.

A number of other restaurants have joined the growing pile of corpses, including Japanese chain Sushi Bay, Elements Bar and Grill and three stores in Sydney restaurant franchise Bondi Pizza.

Late last year, arm of major Victorian catering business, Legacy Hospitality Group, went bust with debts in excess of $1.7 million.

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