<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One of Australia's most iconic family-owned businesses, Spring Gully Foods, has been forced to shut its doors, leaving behind millions of dollars of debt and dozens of workers without a job.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>With $3.8 million of debt, the South Australian company has entered administration and ceased trading.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The move leaves 34 employees without a job. </span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/finance/gold-prices-drop-after-australians-line-up-for-hours-to-buy/7daad3f5-7cd7-4585-9d46-34c5267c6709"><strong><span>Aussies queued for hours to buy gold. Now the price has plummeted</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It's the second time in just over a decade that the fourth-generation food manufacturer has faced administration.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The company, which has been a fixture in South Australian pantries for 80 years, attributed the closure to recent financial difficulties. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Recently they've lost some large contracts, which they have not been able to recover, and that's resulted in some operating losses," administrator James McPherson said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/spring-gully-collapse-administration/2045770a-74d1-4939-9198-fdf84aff6606" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The company owes money to approximately 1000 creditors. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/optus-executives-gone-triple-zero-outage/7e64e8db-87e8-4d61-a8ec-896e95d81d76"><strong><span>Two Optus executives to exit the company after triple-zero disaster</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I don't anticipate that all creditors will be paid in full," McPherson said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Spring Gully Foods previously faced administration in 2013, but was saved following a swell of public support. However, a similar recovery is considered unlikely this time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You're competing against international players who can provide the same product, a similar product at a lower cost," McPherson explained.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The owners of Spring Gully Foods, while declining to speak on camera, said it is an "extremely difficult time" and "the end of era for their family".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The company's assets will be sold off to address its debt, but there is a possibility the brand's intellectual property may be acquired by another entity. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It may happen, we may still see Spring Gully products on the shelves," McPherson said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>This article was produced with the assistance of</span></em><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/technology/9express/16480c33-636a-461f-9c4f-d0e2522c722a"><em><span>9ExPress</span></em></a><em><span>.</span></em></div></div>