Jobs saved as cafe chain given second life

DOZENS of staff at four cafes in southeast Queensland have been saved from losing their jobs, after their former employer went into liquidation earlier this week.

On Tuesday, liquidators were appointed to Evolve Organic, which operated four cafes within the Market Organics stores in Clayfield, Rocklea, Ipswich and Newmarket.

In a surprising twist, rather than losing all their jobs, staff learnt that the owners of Market Organics stores would keep the cafes open and bring them in-house.

The 30 to 40 staff affected were reassured they would continue to be paid and keep their jobs.

Each Market Organic supermarket has an Evolve Organic café, which specialised in organic, plant-based foods.

Market Organics founders Samantha and Johan Gelderblon said the decision to keep the cafes would save between 30 to 40 jobs.

"As soon as we heard, we went around to all the staff and said 'Don't worry, we'll take you on immediately,'" Mrs Gelderblon said.

The cafes have been rebranded to Market Organics Cafe to reflect the change, but Mrs Gelderblon said they would still cater to their loyal followers.

"Our customers really love the cafes and they really love the produce."

The couple first founded their supermarket chain in Rocklea in 2016 and only this year opened their fourth store in Newmarket.

SM Solvency Accountant partner Brendan Nixon, who is overseeing the liquidation of Evolve Organic, said he found the case unusual.

Mr Nixon said he would be investigating whether there was any potential value to those cafes, and whether the directors were actually justified in liquidating the business.