London, Ont. cricket plant ordered into receivership amid $41M debt obligation

Matthew Trevithick · CBC News

· Posted: May 13, 2025 1:58 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr 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 pet-food industry.

The works was opened with the assistance of astir $25 cardinal successful national backing done NGen nether Ottawa's Innovation Supercluster Initiative, 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 summer.

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

A factum filed by FCC successful precocious February highlights immoderate causes of Aspire's ongoing fiscal difficulties.

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

In a supplementary factum filed connected May 1, FCC said that it had fixed Aspire galore opportunities to resoluteness its issues, including opportunities to unafraid exigency liquidity to conscionable payroll obligations, 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," the papers says.

"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.

This communicative volition beryllium updated.