Miyoko Schinner did not win her 11th-hour bid to buy back the plant-based dairy brand she created.
A chef, author, and animal rights activist, Schinner founded Miyoko’s Creamery in 2014 and was removed as CEO by the board in 2022 following disagreements over strategy that became public in 2023.
Schinner, who says she only recently discovered the brand was up for sale after it entered the Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) process last month, raised $103,000 via GoFundMe in a last minute bid to “reclaim” the company, but told AgFunderNews this afternoon (Nov 10) that she was not successful.
The winning bidder has not yet issued a public statement, while Resolution Financial Advisors, which handled the ABC process, has not responded to a request for comment.
In a LinkedIn post penned on Sunday, Schinner acknowledged that it was a long shot, and promised to refund donations should she be unsuccessful: “It is highly unlikely I will be the winning bidder, as the liquidator has a fiduciary responsibility to accept the highest bid.
“48 hours wasn’t enough to solidify deals, figure out the structure of a new entity, and make sure that the funds would not be a simple spin on a roulette wheel. I would like to add that had the company approached me at the outset and offered to sell it back to me, this might have been a different story.”
She added: “I might yet start something anew: a different sort of food company.”
In a post later on Monday evening, she added: “While they [the winning bidder] may have deeper pockets, I may have deeper connections with the community. At the end of the day, I’d rather take that to my grave than a pile of money. So thanks to all of you for your heartfelt support.
“I also have to give a shout out to my friends, family, and small angel investors who believed in me in 2014 and put their money in an idea to get it off the ground. They all lost their money.
“And finally, I’ve started a conversation with others about what kind of new food company we could create that reflects the ethics and values that support equity, justice, community, and animal welfare. As for product ideas, I have a few in mind…”
‘The trademark, Miyoko’s, will become just an empty name’
In a follow-up post November 13, she congratulated the as yet undisclosed winning bidder, but asked: “What are your plans for the company? Ultimately, was it the product line or the name you wanted? If you just wanted the product line in their current iteration and their current (I imagine rapidly falling) sales, would you consider rebranding and just giving me back the rights to the name, Miyoko’s?
“I should mention that while you may own the trademark “Miyoko’s Creamery,” you do not have license to use my name or image. Therefore, you cannot use my name “Miyoko” or “Miyoko Schinner” or my image in any marketing or publicity. You will have to remove the single mention of my name on the origin story of the current website. Any connection to me must be removed.
“The trademark, Miyoko’s, will become just an empty name, unrelated to any person, persona, or ethos of that person.”
Insolvency
According to documents seen by AgFunderNews, California-based Miyoko’s determined that it was “unable to pay its debts in full” and entered the ABC process on October 6.
The ABC process is a means of concluding the affairs of an insolvent company as an alternative to the Chapter 7 bankruptcy procedure. In an ABC, the insolvent company transfers its assets (in this case, the brand, trademarks, formulas etc) to an assignee (“Miyoko Liquidation”) in trust who handles their sale in the best interests of creditors.
A turbulent few years
The insolvency follows a turbulent few years at Miyoko’s, which was founded by chef, author, and animal rights activist Miyoko Schinner in 2014. It launched with artisanal cheese wheels made from cultured cashews and later expanded into plant-based butter, mozzarella, cream cheese, spreads, shreds and slices.
The firm, which has raised more than $70 million to date in public filings (and likely more than $100 million, say sources close to the firm) from backers including GroundForce Capital and Obvious Ventures, hit the headlines in early 2023 after it emerged Schinner had been removed as CEO by the board the previous year.
Schinner claimed she’d had disagreements with the board over strategy, while James Joaquin at key investor Obvious Ventures told reporters he was looking for a CEO with “proven P&L experience who has scaled a larger business.”
The company followed up with a lawsuit accusing Schinner of “hatching a plot” to steal its IP while Schinner responded with a countersuit alleging she was forced out of her own company after complaining to HR about male executives who “openly denigrated women.”
The parties subsequently resolved their differences after going through a court-mandated mediation process. In August 2023, ex-Coca-Cola exec Stuart Kronauge was brought in as CEO, telling us she saw “significant untapped potential” in the brand.
As part of a plan to drive efficiency, the firm later announced plans to close its production facility in Petaluma, California, which had struggled to produce the products economically, and work exclusively with co-manufacturers.
In a letter sent to shareholders in late 2023 quoted by Bloomberg, Kronauge said Miyoko’s was implementing a “financial stabilization plan” and exploring a “range of strategic alternatives, including selling the business”. According to the letter, sales hit $40 million in 2021 but dropped to $33 million in 2022.
Speaking to AgFunderNews last week, Schinner said: “I believe I am the best person to be the face of the brand. I’ve got some values aligned people with whom I am talking right now, and we’re hoping to put something together very, very quickly.”
>>More to follow…
