Key Points
- Instant Brands, the company behind cookware, including Pyrex and Instant Pots, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
- The company attributed its bankruptcy to rising interest rates, tighter credit conditions, and a drop in consumer demand.
- Sales for kitchenware and cooking devices surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, but have dropped in the last year.
Instant Brands, the maker of iconic kitchen staples including Pyrex glassware and Instant Pot pressure cookers, has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States.
The company cited rising interest rates, tighter credit conditions, and a drop in consumer demand, saying these factors made its debt load unsustainable.
It’s the latest in a series of household-name companies to collapse in the last year, many of which experienced a boom during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, companies based around products and services such as cooking, indoor workouts, and even food delivery are either closing their doors or restructuring in the post-pandemic world.
What happened to Instant Brands?
Instant Brands filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on Monday, with as much as US$1 billion ($1.47 billion) in liabilities.
In a statement, the company said it planned to continue operating as it attempts to strengthen its financial position, with the support of a US$132 million ($195 million) in financing from lenders.
The company said it intends to pay employees, vendors, suppliers and distributors as usual throughout the court-supervised process.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, cooking devices, including the Instant Pot, experienced a surge in sales and became a staple in American homes.
But sales have reportedly declined by 50 per cent in the last year.
“After successfully navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and the global supply chain crisis, we continue to face additional global macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges that have affected our business,” President and CEO Ben Gadbois said.
“In particular, tightening of credit terms and higher interest rates impacted our liquidity levels and made our capital structure unsustainable.”
Instant Pots grew in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, but parent company Instant Brand has now filed for bankruptcy protection. Source: AAP / Gado Images/Sipa USA
Which other companies have collapsed post-pandemic?
Instant Brands is the latest in a series of companies filing for bankruptcy or facing financial hardship and declining profits in the last year.
Many companies focused on home-based activities and products experienced a rise in profits during COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, but have struggled to maintain popularity as the world opened up.
Exercise equipment company Peloton, which sells bikes, treadmills and online fitness classes, surged in popularity and had its first billion-dollar quarter in early 2021.
But as lockdowns ended, people returned to the outside world, and the company’s profits began to drop. In 2023, Peloton projected its first-ever decline in subscribers, had to issue product recalls, and laid off thousands of staff.
Zoom Video Communications, which became a go-to meeting tool for many companies during the pandemic, has faced slowed growth and tumbling stock in 2022 and 2023.
Meal-delivery app Deliveroo suddenly ceased operating in Australia in November 2022 after going into voluntary administration.
In April 2023, iconic container company Tupperware raised concerns about its future, saying it would struggle to stay afloat without new financing.
The same month, US home goods retailer Bed, Bath and Beyond filed for bankruptcy after struggling with dwindling sales and a failed merchandising strategy.
Online ordering platforms me&u and Mr Yum – which experienced rapid growth during the pandemic but have now reportedly plateaued – have confirmed they are in talks to merge.
Grocery-delivery startup Milkrun stopped operating in April but was later acquired and resurrected by Woolworths in a relaunch of the supermarket giant’s metro delivery service.
Milkrun built its brand on cheap prices and an initial promise of 10-minute delivery and raised over $85 million in financial backing before announcing its closure.
