Belcampo, once a star of the sustainable meat world with locations in California and New York, is shutting down all of its restaurants and e-commerce operations — including big, splashy Bay Area locations at Oakland’s Jack London Square and San Mateo’s Hillsdale Shopping Center.
In a statement, the company said it’s exploring other ways to continue selling “non-branded products.” Eater LA reported the closure first. Belcampo said employees were notified of the closures on Monday. A spokesperson declined to share how many employees were affected.
The sudden announcement follows controversy earlier this year when Belcampo admitted to mislabeling meat products at its Santa Monica location. The admission sparked online outrage, as well as reports from former employees who said the “isolated incident” spoke to deeper issues with the work culture at Belcampo. Within a few weeks, after Instagram apologies and offers to refund customers, the company and co-founder Anya Fernald were projecting normalcy on the Belcampo social media pages, which have now been taken down. A video apology Fernald posted to her Instagram in May about the mislabeling scandal has also been removed.
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