Chicken-free chicken maker Sunfed Meat shuts: What went wrong

8 Apr, 2024 05:07 AM6 mins to read

Sunfed Foods co-founder Shama Sukul Lee with a burger featuring the company's chickpea-based "Chicken-Free Chicken", which was sold in 300g packs at the equivalent of $45 per kilo - a price that one of its investors saw on the wrong side of the cost-of-living crisis.

One of New Zealand’s highest-profile plant-based “meat” start-ups, chicken-free chicken maker Sunfed Meats, is shutting up shop after burning through some $10 million in investors’ cash without reaching profit.

Its founder blames the pandemic and