Fruit farmers call for gov’t support amid BC Tree Fruits Cooperative’s closure

B.C. farmers gathered in front of the B.C. Supreme Court in Downtown Vancouver Monday, demanding the province to give them a boost after the demise of the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative.

Kelly Wander, a farmer from Osoyoos, says the industry was completely taken by surprise.

“It was really shocking because we were all notified by email on a Friday morning,” she said. “There was no notice. It was like, find other alternatives, take your fruit too.”

Wander says without help from the government, many producers won’t survive.

“The big risk that we see if the government does not come in, it will force a lot of farmers into bankruptcy, because private packers do not have our interest, they have their interests aligned first,” she said.

Wander says she is interested in taking her fruit to a private packer because of capacity, and greater risk, and she doesn’t know if she will be a priority on their list.

The BC Tree Fruits Cooperative is in court seeking creditor protection because of low fruit volumes, extreme weather, and difficult financial conditions.

They filed for creditor protection after receiving a bank repayment notice related to more than $50 million in debts.

A statement from the co-operative issued earlier this month says the decision to file for creditor protection stems from the group’s “liquidity crisis,” with stone fruit crops damaged by weather identified as “the final tipping point” in a series of factors.

The co-operative announced last month that it was shutting down due to “extremely low” estimated fruit volumes, and “difficult market and financial conditions.”

-With files from Charlie Carey, Aastha Pandey-Kanaan and The Canadian Press.