Organic fruit supplier Sunmark Produce (UK) Ltd ceased trading on April 5 and has been put into creditors voluntary liquidation, insolvency practitioner Larking Gowen confirmed yesterday.
"We have been advising Sunmark’s directors for the last two to three weeks," said Larking Gowen’s Wayne Ragan. "Right now we are trying to organise a meeting for creditors so they can meet with us and the company directors, hopefully in the next three to four weeks. We are still trying to investigate what has happened, but we can confirm that the company is being wound up."
The organic fruit market is an extremely difficult one to keep supplied year round, with relatively small volumes of fruit available from major sources and plenty of gaps in the import calendar. But demand is keen from major supermarkets eager to keep shelves stocked for their environment and health conscious shoppers, creating pressure on suppliers.
Sunmark has worked closely with Chingford Fruit in supplying major customers such as Sainsbury’s, which was this week voted Organic Supmermarket of the Year for the third successive year by the Soil Association.
A spokeswoman for Chingford said; "Our company is presently making alternative arrangements to source suppliers of organic products in order to fulfil our customers' needs."
