Lidl fruit supplier Jupiter Marketing has called called in administrators, with the majority of the firm’s 85 staff being made redundant.
Tim Bateson and Chris Pole from Interpath Advisory were appointed joint administrators to the company yesterday (5 September).
However, a small number of people have been retained to assist the administrators.
Based near Newport, the fruit supplier had subsidiary operations in Chile, Europe and South Africa and supplied fruit to a number of UK supermarkets.
A small number of people have been retained to assist the administrators.
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The decision to file for administration was made by UK directors following a recent refinancing.
This comes as the firm faced a “challenging commercial period” with cost inflation in all its operating regions, as well as “dramatic” rises in shipping costs and localised supply chain challenges.
“Unfortunately, following new investment in March this year, the business has faced a number of geopolitical and economic challenges which has ultimately led to its downfall,” Bateson said.
“Our immediate priority is to support all employees affected by redundancy with the information they require to make claims from the Redundancy Payments Office.”
The news comes just weeks after the supplier announced its new partnership with discount grocer Lidl for the supply of its 400g Melon Medley punnets.
