The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved a deal to sell the assets of struggling insect ag firm Aspire Food Group to Halali Group Holdings, a purchaser with “interests in commercial real estate and food and beverage manufacturing.”
Court documents filed by receiver FTI Consulting do not provide further details but say Halali “intends to explore opportunities to source a commercial tenant for the London facility [a large-scale cricket farming facility in Ontario, Canada] so that it will continue to be used for industrial purposes, including, potentially, the insect agriculture business.”
The two directors at Halali listed in the court filings are Hassan Al-Ali and Hussain Al-Ali.
David Rosenberg—who cofounded vertical farming startup AeroFarms and took on the CEO role at Aspire in late 2023—told AgFunderNews: “This is effectively a negotiated solution with the bank with a funding structure that will allow us to operate under [COO] Gabe Mott. I’m moving on but will still be involved in an advisory role.”
The plan is to build back production in one part of the facility in early 2026, he added. “We’ve solved how to grow with higher yields in 10-15 different trials, so we feel like we’ve found an elegant solution.”
While the firm is still operating at low volumes it will focus on undisclosed “high-value niches,” he said.
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