Dunedin-based Infocus Investments Ltd bought the business as a going concern this week, saving the jobs of the 15 remaining staff.
However, members of the Fisher family who worked for the company were not kept on the payroll. They included former chairman John Fisher, company secretary Vicki Fisher, chief executive officer Nick Fisher, and IT and graphics manager Nathan Fisher.
Nick Fisher said it was "very sad" the family would no longer have any involvement in the business, which had been founded in 1919 by Aubrey Fisher and run by four generations of the family.
"It's an incredibly sad day for the family and Dunedin City.
"It's a bitter pill to swallow, that we will not have any involvement in a business that was started by our forebears and our outstanding staff who gave us such loyalty.
"We're also devastated for our creditors. We worked tirelessly to honour the creditors for the past 12 months."
John Fisher said the family was also upset the receivers, PricewaterhouseCoopers partners Malcolm Hollis and Maurice Noone, had sold the business to a company which had not offered enough to cover all the debt Fishers owed to their creditors.
He claimed the family had been working on an offer from an anonymous Dunedin-based group of investors which would have allowed Fishers Meats to pay all its creditors.
"Unfortunately, that offer was rejected by the receivers. We don't know why."
However, Mr Hollis said the receivers chose Infocus Investments Ltd as the preferred buyer because the Fisher family did not disclose who their anonymous buyer was.
"It was safer to go with someone who could be identified. We also never had proof that this person had the money, despite endless requests for the family to confirm it. It is regrettable that the business has passed on to new owners."
