Meati Foods to Cut 30-60 Jobs, Decommission Boulder, Colo., Pilot Plant

Sept. 22, 2023

Company will offer some employees the opportunity to transfer to new roles, which would minimize the number of layoffs needed.

Andy Hanacek

Boulder, Colo.-based alternative protein startup Meati Foods will cut about 20% of its workforce, according to news reports this week. The company told the Denver Post that the number of layoffs could vary, however, within a range of about 30 to 60 positions, depending on how many employees choose to transfer to different roles within the company.

Meati’s mushroom root-based protein products are sold in approximately 1,200 stores nationwide, the company said, and it earned a significant amount of business this summer, when Whole Foods began carrying the company’s products in more than 500 of its stores.

The report also notes that Meati is decommissioning its pilot plant in Boulder. The company was founded in 2016 and moved into a 120,000-square-foot processing facility in Thornton, Colo., earlier this year.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.