Plymouth-based Fresh Vine Wine made an unusual move at its first annual meeting as a public company: It announced a restructuring plan.
Fresh Vine Wine, public for one year, announces restructuring
The Plymouth-based company — with Julianne Hough and Nina Dobrev as large shareholders — announced layoffs and outsourcing of sales and marketing functions.
November 8, 2022 at 4:27PM
The wine company said the plan includes laying off 10 employees from its sales force and hiring third-party firms to handle sales and marketing, particularly through direct-to-consumer channels, according to documents filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
As of March 31, the company had 16 employees, according to a different SEC filing. Calls requesting more details were not returned.
Fresh Vine Wine's owners include Hollywood celebrities Nina Dobrev and Julianne Hough, and Minnesota entrepreneur Damian Novak.
Fresh Vine sells what it calls premium wines that are lower in sugar, carbohydrates and calories. The company contracts with a California wine maker to produce its wines and has warehouse space and executive offices in Plymouth.
The company went public on Dec. 13 at $10 a share. Since then the stock has consistently traded below that mark and is currently trading at $1.67 a share, though revenue has climbed each quarter since Sept. 30, 2021.
In the quarter ended June 30, the company reported a net loss of $4.6 million on revenue of $1 million.
Since last year, two former CEOs have sued the company, one for the value of restricted stock tied to the IPO and the other in a whistleblower suit after she reported $1 million in misappropriated funds.
The Birds Eye plant recruited workers without providing all the job details Minnesota law requires.
