Evesham-based food manufacturer Kanes Foods has collapsed into administration with the loss of 662 jobs, ending a long run as one of Worcestershire's largest employers. Joint administrators from PwC were appointed on 9 November, and the business stopped trading the same day, with every member of staff made redundant.

The company made pre-packed salads, stir-fry mixes and short-shelf-life sauces at its refrigerated site in Evesham, supplying several major UK supermarkets. Its sudden failure has shaken a small town where the factory was a mainstay of local employment for many years.

What went wrong at Kanes Foods

The administrators said the business had faced serious financial and operational problems over the past few years. In June 2025 the failure of its wastewater treatment plant led to one-off costs of around £2 million and a lasting increase in running costs. Drought-related supply problems then hit trading during its busy summer season this year, when fresh salad supplies were badly affected.

The directors explored refinancing and new funding, and a fast-track sale process began in mid-September, but a sale of the business as a going concern could not be completed in time. The Grocer reported that the £83 million-turnover business had been profitable in its last published accounts, with operating profits steady at around £2 million in 2024 and 2025, making the collapse all the more striking.

Reaction in Evesham

Nigel Huddleston, the Conservative MP for Droitwich and Evesham, described the closure as devastating news for the Vale of Evesham and for the hundreds of people and families who have lost their jobs. In a statement, he said he had been contacted by PwC on the morning of the announcement and was liaising with the administrators and the Department for Work and Pensions to make sure affected employees receive support and advice.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Huddleston said the food sector often operated on wafer-thin margins while dealing with supermarkets that wanted to keep prices as low as possible for shoppers, adding that weather could have a major effect on businesses of this kind. Wychavon District Council has confirmed it will work with the administrators, the Department for Work and Pensions and other support agencies to help the workers affected.

Support for the 662 workers

Neighbouring business Primafruit, based at Vale Business Park, is holding a drop-in morning on Friday for anyone affected who may be looking for work, in a small sign of the local response to the closure. Timothy Higgins, joint administrator and director at PwC, said it was deeply regrettable that a long-established business with a strong reputation had been left with no option but to enter administration, and that so many hard-working employees had lost their jobs as a result.

The collapse is a reminder of how exposed prepared-food suppliers can be to a run of bad luck: a single plant failure, a dry summer and a failed sale, one after another, were enough to bring down a profitable supplier to the country's biggest supermarkets.