London, Ont. cricket plant ordered into receivership amid $41M debt bill to creditor

Matthew Trevithick · CBC News

· Posted: May 13, 2025 1:58 PM EDT | Last Updated: 36 minutes ago

Months aft it announced layoffs impacting two-thirds of its workforce, Aspire Food Group, the London-based insect agriculture steadfast specializing successful farming crickets for usage arsenic protein, has been ordered into receivership by an Ontario court.

Last week, a Superior Court of Ontario justness ordered that FTI Consulting beryllium appointed receiver of Aspire and its related entities, and each "assets, undertakings, and properties" acquired oregon utilized by the steadfast astatine its Innovation Drive facility, on with its proceeds.

The bid followed an exertion filed by Farm Credit Canada (FCC) successful February to name FTI Consulting arsenic receiver and manager, saying Aspire owed it astir $41.5 cardinal nether an amended recognition statement reached the erstwhile year.

Aspire opened the works successful 2022 with the extremity of producing up to 13 cardinal kilograms of the insect annually for usage arsenic an alternate consumable macromolecule source, it's co-founder told CBC News astatine the time. A immense bulk of the plant's accumulation was for the favored nutrient industry.

The 14,000-square-metre works was opened with the assistance of astir $25 cardinal successful national backing done NGen nether Ottawa's Global Innovation Clusters inaugural and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

In November, Aspire announced it would laic disconnected 100 of its 150 workers astatine the works to renovate its accumulation system, with plans to rehire workers this July.

In its application, FCC says Aspire built the London installation based connected "proprietary cricket maturation and harvesting methodology" developed successful a probe and improvement installation successful Austin, Texas.

Since opening successful London, the company had been unsuccessful successful replicating the methodology and had failed successful commercializing and scaling its operations, FCC's exertion says.

"As a effect of the cardinal operational issues plaguing the Facility, the Aspire Group has not been capable to nutrient affirmative currency flow/earnings, and accumulation has travel to a implicit halt successful bid for the Aspire Group to absorption connected probe and development."

It adds FTI was brought connected arsenic a advisor to show Aspire's monthly statements and operating metrics. Aspire was besides required by FCC to prolong a minimum currency equilibrium of $1 million.

"Notwithstanding these amendments, the Aspire Group has failed to recommence production, and its moving superior is rapidly depleting," FCC's exertion reads, adding Aspire was successful default of the statement aft failing to support the required currency balance.

CBC News has reached retired to Aspire CEO David Rosenberg, co-founder Mohammed Ashour, and ineligible counsel for Farm Credit Canada and FTI Consulting for comment. This communicative volition beryllium updated erstwhile they respond. 

Ongoing wealth trouble

While the program was to beryllium astatine afloat capableness by 2023, the London works has been operating astatine fractional capableness since May 2024, Dale Snider, a elder firm and commercialized relationship manager astatine FCC, said successful an affidavit filed successful tribunal successful February.

"At definite points, accumulation has wholly unopen down successful bid for the Aspire Group to absorption connected probe and development," the affidavit says. Snider notes farming and processing crickets arsenic requiring specialized instrumentality and a "precisely timed, automated accumulation line."

Differences successful geography and environment, arsenic good arsenic successful the plan and physique of cricket habitats betwixt the Austin R&D installation and the London plant, person led to "operational and scalability issues," the affidavit says.

Adding to the strain, Aspire, which owns the London works done different company, owed astir $1 cardinal successful backmost spot taxes to the City of London arsenic of precocious January. 

"The projected receiver is profoundly acquainted with the Aspire Group's concern and operations and is prepared to oversee an orderly wind-down of operations astatine the installation and an eventual merchantability of the Aspire Group's spot done a transparent and court-approved process," Snider says successful his affidavit.

As information nether the indebtedness agreement, FCC was provided a archetypal charge/mortgage against the London installation successful the main magnitude of $60 million.

A factum filed by FCC successful tribunal that aforesaid month highlights further causes of Aspire's fiscal troubles.

Among them, the drying up of authorities grants and outgo reimbursement programs it antecedently relied on, and "economic uncertainty and marketplace volatility" from threatened U.S. tariffs connected goods imported from Canada.

Nearly each of its accumulation is exported to the U.S., the institution said successful a LinkedIn station successful February. 

"We stay committed to Aspire's ngo and our enactment successful sustainable protein. But we cannot disregard the standard of these disruptions," Rosenberg is quoted successful the station arsenic saying.

On May 1, FCC told the tribunal it had fixed Aspire galore chances to resoluteness its issues, including opportunities to unafraid exigency liquidity to conscionable payroll, and further clip to finalize repayment.

"Despite these accommodations, the Aspire Group has not been palmy successful formalizing immoderate repayment transaction that volition spot the indebtedness repaid successful the abbreviated oregon long-term," a supplementary factum filed by FCC states.

"At this juncture, it has go wide to FCC that the anticipation of the Aspire Borrowers finalizing a repayment transaction successful the adjacent word and connected presumption satisfactory to FCC is negligible."

Since opening, the London works has been dogged by bizarre conspiracy theories that it's portion of a shadowy government plot to unit radical to devour insects.

In 2022, Aspire signed a memorandum of knowing with a Korea-based nutrient organisation institution to place markets successful Asia and Europe for its product.