The recent administration of Jones Food Company (JFC) has sparked a thoughtful wave of industry reflection, less focused on failure and more on the evolution and maturity of the sector.
Formal administration and a potential path forward
According to The Gazette, JFC formally entered administration on 3 April 2025, with Damian Webb and Stephanie Sutton of RSM UK appointed as joint administrators. In a statement quoted by Fruitnet, Webb said, "The company has built a state-of-the-art vertical farming facility with a highly skilled workforce. There is a great opportunity for a purchaser to build on the investment to date to take the business forward."
Operations scaled back, future of assets under review
As reported by Punchline Gloucester, the Lydney-based company had begun supplying major retailers, but was unable to secure the level of investment needed to operate its facility at full capacity. Sixty-one employees have been made redundant, with a core team of eleven retained to support the administration process and maintain the site. A potential sale of the business or its assets is now being explored.
Sector reacts with realism and resolve
On LinkedIn, the initial sentiment across the sector points to this moment as a necessary inflection point, responding with a sense of realism, and an eye toward course correction.
Bas de Bekker, Sales Manager at Meteor Systems, commented, "Another big name in vertical farming unable to make the numbers work. It's tough to see Jones Food Company, once seen as a beacon of innovation in the UK, shutting down like this. Vertical farming holds so much promise, but the business model still seems incredibly fragile. Hopefully the industry can learn from these setbacks and pivot toward more sustainable strategies."
Mohammed Junaid, Facilities Operations Manager at Mishkat Agritech Farms, shared, "It's a sobering reminder of the immense challenges that pioneers in controlled environment agriculture face—despite innovation, vision, and heavy investment. Behind every tech-driven farm are passionate people who believed in a better food future, and it's painful to see their efforts halted."
Lee Stiles, Secretary of the Lea Valley Growers' Association, added, "Vertical farming and glasshouse growing are not much different on the commercial side of the business. Both rely on volume sales to achieve economies of scale and both are susceptible to the commercial pressures of supermarket price wars and the increased cost of production. Tax increases, energy costs, wage increases, and static prices are a burden for all primary producers. Always sad to see companies fail where people have put their all into them."
For more information:
Jones Food Company
info@jonesfoodcompany.co.uk
www.jonesfoodcompany.co.uk
Meteor Systems
Bas de Bekker, Sales Manager
www.linkedin.com/in/bas-de-bekker-32611a25
www.meteorsystems.nl
Mishkat Agritech Farms
Mohammed Junaid, Facilities Operations Manager
www.linkedin.com/in/mohammed-junaid-a2343355
www.mishkat.com
Lea Valley Growers Association
Lee Stiles, Secretary
www.linkedin.com/in/lee-stiles-1644085b
www.lvga.co.uk