A group of companies that has provided storage and packing services to fruit growers in British Columbia for nearly 90 years has filed for creditor protection after receiving a repayment demand from a bank.
In a statement released Monday, the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative said the decision to seek creditor protection was due to the group’s “liquidity crisis,” with the weather-damaged stone fruit crop seen as the “final turning point” in a number of factors.
The cooperative announced last month that it would close due to “extremely low” estimated fruit volumes and “difficult market and financial conditions.”
It says the group received a demand letter from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada last Tuesday to repay its debt and filed for creditor protection in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on Monday to “maximize recovery for all parties involved.”
A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in Vancouver. The group says it is demanding a 10-day stay of all proceedings against the cooperative, the appointment of a supervisor, the approval of interim financing and the scheduling of another hearing.
Jennifer Deol of There and Back Again Farms had to remove peach trees from her Okanagan farm after a cold snap almost completely destroyed the region’s stone fruit crop. Now, she says, the region’s farmers are devastated by the closure of the Tree Fruits co-op.
Premier David Eby and Agriculture Minister Pam Alexis will provide an update on support for fruit growers at a press conference in Penticton, BC, on Tuesday.
An extreme cold spell in January destroyed almost all peaches, apricots and nectarines in British Columbia for the entire year and severely damaged cherry orchards.
Fruit-growing areas in the southern interior experienced several days of freezing temperatures, killing the active buds of trees that had just recovered from the heatwave of 2021 and had endured a harsh winter in 2022.
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