Meat-Free Restaurant Clover Food Lab to Close All Locations After 17 Years

After 17 years in business, US meatless restaurant chain Clover Food Lab is closing all of its 11 locations this week. Despite efforts to find a buyer for the distressed business, the fast-casual vegetarian stalwart based in Cambridge was unable to secure a deal to keep its doors open. The closure comes after the company emerged from bankruptcy two-and-a-half years ago and issued a warning about its fate two months prior.

The closure of Clover Food Lab was attributed to various factors, including rising ingredient costs that inflated by 30-50% over the last two years. Like many other restaurants globally, the chain struggled with thin profit margins and the challenges of the increasingly difficult restaurant environment. The closure of Clover Food Lab adds to the growing list of meat-free eateries that have shuttered recently due to financial challenges, highlighting the tough landscape for the industry.