Food manufacturer Pronto e Fresco enters voluntary administration

A Melbourne-based manufacturer of antipasto food products is for sale, after the business collapsed into voluntary administration on Wednesday.

Pronto e Fresco Pty Ltd has been operating for more than 15 years and is based in the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows.

The business supplies antipasto products such as semi-dried tomatoes, olives and grilled vegetables to the major Australian supermarkets, as well as other wholesale and retailer customers.

Andrew Yeo and David Vasudevan of Pitcher Partners were appointed as administrators to Pronto e Fresco on March 2.

Receivers and managers have subsequently been appointed to the business, with Keith Crawford and Thea Eszenyi from McGrathNicol commencing a sale campaign for the company and two related entities in an advertisement in the Australian Financial Review today.

McGrathNicol is seeking urgent expressions of interest in Pronto e Fresco Pty Ltd, The Australian Antipasto Company Pty Ltd and Cumpa Imports Pty Ltd, which collectively form the Pronto Group.

The Pronto Group’s business and assets are for sale, as is its food processing facility in Broadmeadows.

Pronto Group currently employs 70 people and is continuing to trade throughout the voluntary administration process.

McGrathNicol partner Rob Smith told SmartCompany this morning the receivers hope to stabilise the business and sell it as a going concern.

Smith described the business as a significant player in the market for products such as semi-dried tomatoes and olives and said the Broadmeadows business premise is an impressive facility.

The Pronto Group is currently turning over between $15 -20 million annually.

Smith says it is too early to specify the factors that lead to the business entering voluntary administration, saying the administrators will investigate why the directors of the company opted to appoint external managers.

In a video about Pronto e Fresco’s production facility from July 2015, the company said it was supplying its products to supermarkets including Coles, Woolworths and Aldi, and airlines including Qantas and Singapore Airlines.

Note: The receivers and managers of the business did not produce this video and do not make any representations or warranty about its completeness or accuracy.