Cambridge-based Food Company Closing All Locations

CAMBRIDGE, MA — A vegetarian-centric fast-food company is ceasing operations later this week, the business announced.

Clover’s 12 locations and delivery services will close at the end of the day on Thursday, May 28. The company’s leadership cited financial challenges, including inflation and the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as reasons for the shutdown.

“Today, everyone is getting hit with rising costs—food prices are up, delivery prices are up, and a hundred other costs are moving in the same direction, even the less flashy things like cardboard and fry oil,” Clover said in a statement. “Across the board, our ingredients cost 30 to 50 percent more today than they did just two years ago. Our farmers are experiencing the same pressures we are.”

Clover restaurants and kiosks can be found in Boston, Cambridge, Newton, Sudbury, and Westford. In March, the business filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act with the state, signaling its upcoming dismissal of 182 Massachusetts employees based out of its central kitchen and administrative headquarters on 1075 Cambridge St. in Cambridge. The layoffs and closure have been scheduled to go into effect on Friday, May 29 if the business could not find a buyer.

“We’re deeply saddened about the circumstances,” Clover said in a statement. “Especially for our employees—you’ll never find a more standout group of dedicated, mission-driven, awesome people who deeply care about their work.”

The vegetarian restaurant chain was founded in 2008 by MIT and Harvard Business School graduate Ayr Muir with the goal of serving fully organic and plant-based items. What started out as a food truck turned into 12 brick-and-mortar locations. In November 2023, Muir filed for bankruptcy and turned operations over to Julia Wrin Piper. The business’s name was simplified from Clover Food Labs to Clover in early 2024 as part of a semi-rebrand and restructuring. In addition to its locations, Clover offers meal boxes with ingredients customers can prepare on its own as well as catering services.

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