Nosh's store in Glen Innes has an asking price of $1 million.

The future of Nosh should be decided early next week as owner Veritas races to meet a bank ultimatum to sell the underperforming Auckland gourmet food business.

NZX-listed Veritas, which also owns the Mad Butcher chain, individually listed its six Nosh stores on Trade Me in November with asking prices of between $400,000 and $1.2m.

Veritas has indicated Nosh is losing money overall, with the sale or disposal of the business likely to be positive for its earnings.

The company told investors in December that banker ANZ required it to secure an "unconditional contract" to sell Nosh by January 15 – this Sunday – or wind-up the chain by the end of March.

But chairman Tim Cook said the Sunday date had been named in error, given it was not a business day, and the correct date was Monday.

READ MORE:

* Veritas' Nosh ultimatum leads to likely closure

* Posh nosh foods are increasing in popularity

* Veritas issues $1 million profit warning, as Nosh struggles

Veritas was "working through the process with a number of buyers", but no sales had been concluded, so he had nothing to report as of Friday, Cook said.

"Everything is exactly the same, although it is probably Monday because there will be nobody working on Sunday."

Cook would not confirm whether Monday was a hard deadline for a sale, however, or whether there would necessarily be an announcement from Veritas on the day.

"I don't want to say 'yes or no' at the moment because I don't know quite where I am going to be," he said.

Business broker ABC Business Sales has been handling inquires from interest buyers about the Nosh stores and has priced them separately on Trade Me, raising the possibility that some might be saved and others closed.

Its Trade Me listing priced Nosh's food market in Mount Eden at $1.2m and its Glen Innes store at $1m. The remaining stores had asking prices of between $400,000 and $650,000.

There are also two Nosh stores owned by franchisees at Constellation Drive and Mt Maunganui which are not part of the sale process.

The entire Veritas business is valued at only $8.7m on the NZX as a result of its shares losing more than 90 per cent of their value since optimism about the firm peaked in 2013.

Veritas was founded in 2011 and acquired the Mad Butcher franchise owner through a reverse takeover in 2013. It bought a half share in Burger King meat-patty supplier Pacific Foods later that year and acquired Nosh in 2014.

New Zealanders spend nearly $20 billion a year on food and the country's collective grocery bill rose 10 per cent, year-on-year, in the three months to the end of June – well above the rate that would be expected by inflation and population growth.

Wellington retail analyst Chris Wilkinson said in October that the speciality food sector had almost become a victim of its popularity, as New World supermarkets also cashed in by engaging with artisan local suppliers to cater for niche tastes.

"It has increasingly challenged the specialty retailers," he said.