A Canadian company says it’s buying one of the main cold storage facilities of the B.C. Tree Fruits Cooperative after the co-op fell into financial trouble.
NOVEM Pharmaceuticals, which has offices in Edmonton and Kelowna, announced Friday that it’s buying the co-operative’s main cold atmosphere storage facility.
CEO Colin Davison says NOVEM is leasing the property, which can store up to 11 million kilograms of fruit, on an emergency basis until the deal is finalized so it can open up storage space for this year’s harvest.
“So that has been our focus,” Davison said. “That’s the number one thing that is required really right now is to get the fruit into storage immediately.”
The company’s announcement came after the B.C. Supreme Court ordered the sale of the co-op’s assets late last month.
The co-operative, which is made up of more than 230 farming families, previously provided storage and packing services for B.C. fruit growers for almost 90 years.
But in July, the group abruptly announced to growers that it was shutting down, blaming “extremely low estimated fruit volumes, weather effects and difficult market and financial conditions.”
It subsequently filed for creditor protection.
Jennifer Deol of There and Back Again Farms had to remove peach trees from her Okanagan farm after a cold snap all but destroyed the stone fruit harvest in the region. Now, she says the region’s farmers are reeling from the shutdown of the Tree Fruits co-operative.
Following the closure, growers have expressed concerns that this will be a devastating season without a way for farmers to refrigerate their crops.
Some have also said they want the co-op to be reopened and called for government intervention.
Amarjit Lalli, a grower and former B.C. Tree Fruits board member, reiterated the growers’ demands Friday and noted that there are other important packing and storage facilities that could support a revival of the co-operative.
“It’s frustrating,” Lalli said. “We need a dance partner and they are not wanting to dance.”
B.C. United has said that it wants the province to temporarily halt the liquidation of the co-op’s assets and offer funding to get B.C. Tree Fruits through this year’s harvest and audit the co-operative and its management.
On The Coast8:00New measures announced for B.C. farmers
Guest host Belle Puri checks back in with There and Back Again Farms owner Jennifer Deol about whether the supports announced by B.C. will be beneficial enough for small family farmers, and what measures she hopes to see soon.
CBC News has reached out to the Ministry of Agriculture for comment.
Previously, Agriculture Minister Pam Alexis and Premier David Eby have acknowledged the challenges faced by tree fruit growers. Last month, Eby announced a variety of programs to assist farmers across the province.