Why Instant Pot's Bankruptcy Isn't Necessarily the End of the Company

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in March, Ben Gadbois, the CEO of Instant Brands, expressed his optimism about the company’s signature item, the Instant Pot. “We believe that the Instant Pot product is going to be around for a long, long, long time, and we still sell a lot of volume,” he told the outlet. “But no product stays at a phenom level forever.”

Gadbois was right about that “phenom level” thing: although Instant Brand’s products — which also include Chicago Cutlery, Corelle, CorningWare, Snapware, and Pyrex, in addition to the Instant Pot — sales are down for that once-inescapable multicooker. While sales of Instant Pots and its other electronic multicookers hit $758 million in 2020, that plummeted by 50% to $344 million last year.

As a result, Instant Brands has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing a combination of factors including lower sales, supply chain issues, higher interest rates, and “global macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges” that have affected the company. “As we move through this process, we remain focused on serving and connecting with our consumers around the world, and we are grateful for their trust in us and our products," Gadbois said in a statement.

“We are committed to finding a positive outcome. We thank our Instant Brands employees in factories, distribution centers and offices all over the world for their ongoing hard work and excellence, and we also extend our gratitude to our retail partners, suppliers and vendors for their continued support.”

What this filing does not mean, however, is that the company is going under, nor does it mean that Instant Pots, Pyrex, or its other products will not be available for sale. In its filing, Instant Brands said that it had secured commitment for $132.5 million in new financing to keep its business operations going — including continuing to pay the wages and benefits of its 2,400 employees.

Despite Gadbois’ mostly positive outlook earlier this spring, this has not been a great year for the Instant Pot. According to NPR, one market research group said that sales had dropped another 20% from last year through the end of April, and just last week, S&P Global downgraded the company’s rating due to shoppers’ decreased spending on non-essential items like, say, countertop multicookers.

"Net sales decreased 21.9% in the first quarter of fiscal 2023, relative to the same period last year," the company’s analysts explained. "This marked the seventh consecutive quarter of year-over-year sales contraction. Instant Brands' performance continues to suffer from depressed consumer demand due to lower discretionary spending on home products."

Only time (and the company’s creditors) will tell whether Gadbois was right when he said that the Instant Pot would be a thing “for a long, long, long time.” In the meantime, there’s someone giving one away on Facebook Marketplace.