Pure Prairie Poultry’s petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy has been dismissed amid objections from creditors.
The petition was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota on September 20.
The company, headquartered in Charles City, Iowa, has been in business since 2021, when it purchased a shuttered poultry plant that was previously operated by Simply Essentials before it closed it in 2019.
KCHA reported that the petition listed Pure Prairie Poultry as having assets between $50 million and $100 million, but liabilities between $100 million and $500 million with between 200 and 999 creditors.
The company sought post-petition financing of $15 million in “debtor in possession (DIP) financing” in order to ensure continued operations during this case as it implements a sale process. The DIP financing, from Sandton Capitol, was contingent upon Sandton getting “senior secured status” so that claims they were owed by Pure Poultry would be paid before any others.
However, numerous creditors filed objections to the plan and a hearing to dismiss the bankruptcy filing was held.
Tracy Miller, senior director of brand and marketing for Pure Prairie said in a statement released to KCHA said: “Without those approvals, the bankruptcy court could not approve our initial plan of reorganization, so we have asked the court to dismiss our filing, a motion that was granted Friday afternoon.”
Miller added, “We continue to pursue the expressions of interest from several potential buyers and to look for restructuring options outside of the courts. As we do so, we will curtail or suspend operations to conserve cash and to meet our commitments to quality and wholesomeness.”
All Pure Prairie Poultry employees are still employed by the company, Miller said, but all contract workers hired by local staffing agencies are no longer working at the plant.
Pure Prairie Poultry describes itself as a company that delivers premium quality chicken products to retail, deli, and foodservice segments. It says its products are “all natural, air-chilled, and well-trimmed,” and “come from chickens raised under strict animal welfare standards, with no antibiotics ever, and fed a vegetable- and grain-based diet.”
The plant in 2023 received funding to renovate and update the plant, with $37.6 million coming in the form of a loan packaged, guaranteed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program. Greater Commercial Lending (GCL), facilitated the loan.
Brian Roelofs is the president and CEO of the company, and others that had been named to its leadership team have had years of experience with other past and present poultry companies, including Foster Farms, Tyson Foods, Petaluma Poultry, GNP Company, Prairie’s Best Farms and Zacky Farms.