Bad Bread? BetterBrand Claims ‘No Truth’ To Shutdown Rumors

BetterBrand rode the rumor roller coaster this week, and it’s only Thursday.

Earlier this week, the company was said by some media outlets to be in the process of shutting down. Its website was temporarily listed as no longer active, customer complaints regarding unfulfilled orders began to mount, emails from customer support hinted at bizarre takeover conspiracies, and the owner, Aimee Yang, was even said to be hiding out in Europe. BetterBrand itself carries a reported valuation of $170 million – so as an early-stage brand, the long knives came out pretty fast.

This morning, the maker of low-carb bagels and rolls released a statement via a seven-slide letter posted on its Instagram page (@eatbetter), and shared to customers via email, that revealed an even more bizarre claim: that a group of now-terminated employees conspired with one of the company’s online fulfillment partners to steal inventory and money. The letter also claimed that what it originally believed was a glitch with its Shopify site “was also the work of one of these employees.”

BetterBrand said it reached these findings after conducting a “thorough investigation” and is now working with a new fulfillment partner, Cold Chain 3PL. The post also said the company has sent $1 million worth of inventory to Cold Chain’s processing centers in California, Illinois and Maryland and said it is working to fulfill orders as quickly as possible. Nosh has reached out to Cold Chain 3PL for confirmation.

“Judd and Jamie have assured us that they will start shipping in full force this coming week,” the post reads. “They have also graciously volunteered to help our team manage order inquiries and communications, so all questions re: order status should be sent directly to them.”

In the past BetterBrand founder and CEO Aimee Yang has boasted about how its small, lean team of fewer than 10 full-time employees has been key to its scale, although that would indicate a clear reliance on outside partners.

As of this morning, it does appear that the company’s Shopify site is back up and running.

The explanation for delayed orders countered a previous update shared with online customers on Monday stating the company was “battling a hostile takeover event by a number of large institutions,” according to an email posted by Snaxshot founder Andrea Hernandez on X (formerly Twitter).

Earlier this week Nosh originally reached out to Yang for comment about the shutdown rumors and she claimed there was “No truth to any of it…so strange haha.” She also clarified the location of her whereabouts after rumors claimed she was “hiding out in Europe,” stating that she is in Florida.

“There was a temporary glitch [with] Shopify so the site was down for a few days, orders getting processed and caught up on shipping as we speak,” she said via a direct message on Instagram. “We’re on shelves and fully stocked at Sprouts and Target, and will be expanding with those partners, alongside announcing a really exciting upcoming launch.”

The Nosh team was unable to locate any of the brand’s products at select Target stores in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. The brand and its products are not currently listed online at Target.com. Select BetterBrand products were in stock at Whole Foods and Sprouts stores in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, California, and Midwest.

Meanwhile, the company’s e-comm remains a stumbling block: Customer reviews on the brand’s site for its Better Bagel product show numerous complaints of unfulfilled orders and challenges getting in contact with customer service. The company has also come under fire from consumers with multiple reviews posted as recently as within the past two months claiming that orders arriving were already covered in mold.

It’s not the first time there have been surges of complaints around product quality: in 2022, the company changed its DTC shipping method to reduce costs, sending frozen bagels without ice packs within a limited shipping window and instructing customers to immediately open and freeze the products upon arrival; at the time, numerous reports online pointed to product arriving already moldy, but the company denied having been notified of any widespread quality issues with its product.

Nosh contacted current investors, former employees and business partners of BetterBrand for background on conditions at the company. Sources agreeing to speak on the condition of anonymity called Yang’s credibility into question.

As of yesterday evening, an investor in the company said requests for an update on the business were met with silence.