BC Tree Fruits closure ‘not totally unexpected,’ says agriculture minister in response to calls for bailout – Kelowna News

Photo: file photo

The leader of the Official Opposition is calling for the provincial government to step in and save BC Tree Fruits, but the B.C. agriculture minister says the co-op’s closure is not a surprise.

In a letter to members, BC Tree Fruits announced Friday it is no longer accepting fruit as of July 26. The move caught many apple farmers, and even BC Tree Fruits employees, off guard.

BC Tree Fruits says it made the decision to obtain court direction and assistance to wind down the co-operative and maximize recovery for all stakeholders.

“Extremely low estimated fruit volumes and difficult market conditions, the cooperative would not be able to effectively operate the business and provide pool returns to growers,” said the letter to members.

Wednesday, BC United leader Kevin Falcon called on the BC NDP government to step in.

“We urgently need an audit to uncover the financial challenges that led BC Tree Fruits, which serves over 300 member growers, to suddenly shut down – impacting the incomes of hundreds of growers.”

He is urging the government to stop the liquidation of the co-op, provide emergency funding to the sector and help get local cold storage facilities operational.

Falcon says the cooperative—which is central to receiving, packing, and marketing a wide range of fruits—had two provincial staff members on their board.

“These members made the devastating decision to cease operations without any intervention from the government. How did this situation escalate so quickly with the provincial government having oversight through these two members? Where are David Eby and [minister] Pam Alexis, and why are they not in the Okanagan dealing with this right now,” asks Falcon.

BC Tree Fruits has been in operation since 1936 and was the biggest storage and distributor of fruit in British Columbia. The abrupt closure means some farms have nowhere to sell or store their fruit.

“This closure delivers a severe blow to hundreds of families who depend on BC Tree Fruits for their livelihood,” said Ian Paton, BC United’s shadow minister for agriculture.

“Many farmers, already strained by adverse weather events, market slowdowns and the cost-of-living crisis, are still awaiting payments from last year’s harvest. Now faced with the inability to sell their current harvest, there’s a genuine fear that they may never receive these crucial funds.”

In a statement to Castanet, B.C. agriculture minister Pam Alexis says the provincial government has spent more than $6 million for a dedicated tree fruit stabilization plan endorsed by all industry stakeholder groups.

Alexis says this work also included efforts to help address the governance and structural issues within the tree fruit sector, including addressing challenges with the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative.

“The British Columbia tree fruit sector is a vital part of our province’s heritage that British Columbians are proud of. While the closure of the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative happened suddenly, it was not totally unexpected as it has faced long standing challenges,” Alexis said.

“My heart goes out to all of the farmers, producers and workers who are impacted by the closure of the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative.”

Alexis says the province has no authority to take over the board at this time, but that ministry staff are consulting with the BC Fruit Growers Association and working with individual farmers to explore available options for getting their fruit to market.

“Our government has provided almost $200 million to the tree fruit sector alone through various programs over the past four years and we will continue to work on solutions to support this iconic industry going forward,” added Alexis.

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