BBC News NI economics editor
Karri KitchenBBC News NI
Products from the healthy ready meal company Karri Kitchen have disappeared from shelves across Northern Ireland as the business has entered liquidation.
The firm, which was based in Craigavon, County Armagh, had expanded rapidly over the past few years securing deals with Tesco, Lidl, Asda and Spar to become one of NI’s biggest ready meal businesses.
Karri Kitchen specialised in healthy Asian-style meals such as Mongolian beef noodles, firecracker chicken and mango chicken curry.
The liquidator said the business was “unable to meet rising production costs”.
The business was started in 2019 by Shera McAloran with a mantra to “bring healthy south-east Asian cuisine to homes across Northern Ireland”.
The business also appeared in the BBC programme Food Fest Northern Ireland featuring some of their unique recipes.
The Statement of Affairs which was filed as part of the liquidation process showed the business had net debts of almost £700,000 when it stopped trading.
That included almost £200,000 owed to a County Armagh food company and £183,000 which had been loaned to the business by one of its directors, Chris McAloran.
The statement also suggests the business had 33 staff members.
‘Loyal customer base’
A note to the statement says the creditor figures are taken from company records and some of the amounts are disputed and some are likely to be amended.
The business had ceased trading prior to its liquidation.
Lisa Lappin, from Baker Tilly Mooney Moore, was appointed to liquidate the business.
“Karri Kitchen Ltd entered creditors voluntary liquidation on 16 April 2025,” she said.
“Karri Kitchen Ltd was a fantastic local brand that produced excellent products and had a loyal customer base.
“Its loss as a unique aspect to the local economy will be mourned, but the company was simply unable to meet rising production costs and broader economic pressures.”
Alliance Party assembly member for Upper Bann Eoin Tennyson said the closure would be a big blow to the Craigavon area.
“Homegrown businesses like Karri Kitchen are the lifeblood of our community, creating jobs, and supporting local supply chains,” he said.
“This business also made a significant contribution to local food banks and organisations supporting those the crisis.”
Analysis: A challenging market
Food manufacturing is a highly competitive sector with low profit margins.
Even if you have a distinctive brand which gets onto supermarket shelves it is still a real challenge to build a sustainable business.
The challenge is even greater at a time when businesses are continuing to deal with elevated energy costs and a range of new employment costs.
That is reflected in the comments from Karri Kitchen’s liquidator which says the company was simply unable to meet rising production costs and broader economic pressures.
