Saladexpress Inc., Bankruptcy

Saladexpress Inc., a 35-year-old company which processes and prepares salad and vegetable mixes at its plant in St-Rémi, Québec, filed an assignment in bankruptcy on June 7.

The company lists approximately $30.1 million in liabilities, with approximately $28.2 million (approximately $11.4 million on a secured basis) owed to its parent company Agrial, a France-based agri-food cooperative with over 60 fruit and vegetable production and processing sites worldwide, which invested in Saladexpress in 2018.

The company’s minority shareholder is the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, which invested $8.6 million in 2010.

According to its website, Saladexpress has 135 employees.

In a statement, the company attributed its closure to, among other factors, the inflationary context, fluctuating prices in raw materials and issues in processing. The company also cited issues with its financial model and challenges in establishing vertical distribution centres (which it was ultimately unable to do) as contributing to its demise.

Richter is the bankruptcy trustee.