Allplants Owner Buys Factory Out of Administration to Shore Up Plant-Based Manufacturing

Matthew Mills, co-owner of UK startup Allplants, has bought Fairoak Foods out of administration to expand the plant-based meal brand’s manufacturing capabilities, a move he made with his wife, Ella Mills.

The Millses seem to be in the business of rescuing businesses.

A year after reviving the Allplants brand of vegan meal kits, Matthew Mills has now acquired the business and assets of Fairoak Foods out of administration.

The deal, first reported by The Grocer, includes a fully fitted 6,700 sq ft factory in Surrey, and saves around 60 jobs. It will offer Allplants a way to expand its portfolio and production footprint by bringing manufacturing in-house.

To enable the transaction, Mills – who co-founded the vegan healthy snacking brand Deliciously Ella with his wife, Ella Mills – set up Fairoak Culinary under the Cookplants Holdings group, which houses the Allplants brand.

It comes shortly after Mills stepped down from his role as UK manager of Hero Group, the Swiss multinational that acquired Deliciously Ella in a multimillion-pound deal in 2024.

Fairoak Foods will act as ‘key manufacturer’ for Allplants

Founded in 2011, Fairoak Foods is a private-label manufacturer of chef-led food products, from vegan soups to pasta and stews. The company specialises in product development, sourcing, manufacturing and supply chain management, working with premium retailers, brands and foodservice operators.

Fairoak Foods appointed an administrator in March after struggling with cash flow issues, and has since continued to trade under the control of its insolvency firm amid the search for a buyer.

“People who work in food manufacturing are some of the best of us: they possess a quiet kind of excellence, they’re deeply skilled and immensely hardworking,” Mills, who was planning to take a break from work this summer, told The Grocer. “Fairoaks became an opportunity I couldn’t say no to.”

He added that Fairoak Foods has a “great existing customer base, the product quality is best-in-class, and the site will act as a key manufacturing partner for Allplants”.

Kelly Mitchell, joint administrator of Fairoak Foods and managing director of insolvency firm Quantuma, noted: “We were able to run a comprehensive sales process without delay and thereafter completed a sale within just eight weeks.

“In addition to maximising realisations, the successful bid ensures the continuation of trade to support major client brands and protects the jobs of around 60 staff. It was important for us to find a buyer, whilst continuing to trade the business as a going concern, to enable the preservation of jobs and continued supply for key clients.”

Allplants ‘in very strong growth’ amid product innovation drive

In its current form, Allplants evolved from the Plants brand of ready meals launched by Deliciously Ella in partnership with British retailer Waitrose in 2022.

This label was not included in Deliciously Ella’s sale to Hero Group two years later – instead, the Millses acquired the brand name and assets of plant-based meal startup Allplants, which went into administration in November 2024 after piling up losses.

Plants rebranded to Allplants last year, capitalising on the latter’s social media (which had nearly 200,000 followers when it was acquired). It has since rolled out a range of subscription-based frozen ready meals, as well as snacks, pasta, sauces and protein-packed meals in supermarkets.

“Allplants is in very strong growth, and we have some exciting new product development that we can launch from the site,” Mills said. “Employees have transferred across to our newco and I’m excited to start working with my new colleagues.”

Allplants will maintain its partnerships with existing manufacturers for its incumbent product portfolio, with Mills working closely with managing director Kerry Atack. Ella is still involved in the brand’s development, but not the Cookplants Holding group.

Meanwhile, the original Allplants’s recipe IP was bought by fellow vegan meal brand Grubby, which reintroduced Allplants meals with revised packaging under its own label last year

Fairoak Foods’s rescue is reflective of the larger consolidation drive in the food industry, especially the alternative protein space. Since September 2024, over 70 companies in the sector have merged, been acquired, fallen into insolvency, or shut down.

Within the UK, Neat, Beastly Brews, Allplants, and Clive’s Purely Plants all reached the end of the road. The latter was a casualty of its parent company Vegan Food Group’s decision to wind down its UK operations and separate from fellow subsidiaries VFC and Meatless Farm to focus on its plant-based factory in Germany.