Supie Limited was placed in voluntary administration this week, after the online grocery business began facing “cash flow difficulties”. A key investor stopped providing funding, leaving the business with about $3 million in debt.
The Auckland-based start-up was founded in 2021 by Sarah Balle to introduce innovation and fairer pricing for producers and shoppers in New Zealand. Supie’s customer base grew rapidly to about 60,000 and the very sudden closure of the business has come as a shock to customers, suppliers and staff.
Supie’s 120 employees were informed of the decision in a meeting at 9am on Monday.
PwC voluntary administrator Richard Nacey said in a statement: “While sales have rapidly grown over the last calendar year, recent growth has been lower than expected, and insufficient to provide the scale needed to operate profitably in what is a highly competitive industry.”
As administrators, Nacey said, they did not have sufficient funding to continue to trade the business in administration. “In the absence of securing funding, we expect to be seeking to have the three companies in the group placed into liquidation in the near future.”
Earlier this year, Supie said it was under pressure from some suppliers to raise its prices.
