Exclusive: Former Cooks Venture CEO says company needed more capital
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Editor's note: This is part 2 of a series about the sudden suspension of operations by Cooks Venture of Decatur.
The founder of failed poultry startup Cooks Venture tells Axios that a lack of money was its downfall.
- "We would have been a successful company if we'd had … access to capital, no doubt about it," Matthew Wadiak said, noting that investment in alternative meat towers over what Cooks garnered.
Why it matters: The Decatur company left hundreds of employees, dozens of contract farmers and investors in a lurch last November, when it abruptly closed most of its operations.
State of play: Wadiak, who was the company's first CEO, departed in August and stressed he had no insight into the last few months of its operations.
- He declined to say why he left and referred Axios to its board of directors.
What he's saying: Axios' estimate published last week of the capital raised by Cooks — between $123 million and $152 million — was "rubbish," but "I can't speak" to the actual figure. "I'll tell you it was much less," Wadiak said.
- Money went to renovate a processing plant, run a second plant, revamp its genetics operation, as well as its hatchery, and build a network of contract growers.
- "Real capital to build … a new complex … you're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars," he said. "Although there was a significant amount of money raised, it was very much shoestring" compared to other poultry companies.
The pandemic that began in 2020 created a sudden drop in demand for its products, drained some operating capital while it dealt with COVID-19 restrictions on workers and pushed Cooks to the back of the line for outsourced labor to debone its chickens. (Companies like Twin Rivers Foods and the former Ozark Mountain Poultry provide this service.)
Meanwhile, NWA's poultry companies "are not really supportive of new folks who are joining into the sector, especially with alternative genetics," he said, calling his time at Cooks an "uphill battle."
Catch up quick: Wadiak was a co-founder of Blue Apron in 2012. To launch Cooks in 2018, he acquired a chicken breed, several buildings and poultry houses, 800 acres and two Oklahoma processing plants from the defunct Crystal Lake Farms. He paid eight figures to West Liberty Foods of Iowa for the assets.
- Chicken was to be Cooks Venture's main revenue stream, but Wadiak also planned to grow row crops to feed the birds to create what he called "regenerative agriculture."
- The company also dabbled in selling beef and pork.
- Cooks' target market was a tad murky and changed over time. Its proprietary breed of chickens were to be sold to retailers and high-end restaurants, but also direct to consumer, a la Blue Apron. (A box of four whole birds cost $100, according to its website, which no longer allows orders.)
The bottom line: Wadiak still believes in the mission of the company. "I hope for nothing more than for Cooks Venture to someday resurrect," he said.
- "Cooks Venture was the one opportunity that the world had for a better breed of chicken and a better farming system."