A Kelowna-based orchard and sparking juice company has announced that it is staying true to its motto of finding a 'home for every apple' after having secured fruit storage for local farmers in a partnership with Novem, the company now in possession of a former BC Tree Fruit storage facility on Sexsmith Road in Kelowna.
Novem, a company specializing in the processing and storage of agricultural products and pharmaceuticals, announced on Sept. 6, that it has officially taken possession of the former BC Tree Fruits facility located on Sexsmith Rd.
Hours later, Farming Karma, an orchard, and sparkling juice company specializing in the waste reduction of imperfect fruit, announced that it has secured access to the facility's specialized storage spaces in order to help local producers.
Colin Davidson, the CEO of Novem said that an emergency lease is now in place and that they have submitted an offer to buy the former BC Tree Fruits property, pending court approval.
BC Tree Fruits, a nearly nine decade old cooperative, shocked farmers on July 25, when it announced in the middle of the growing season that it will no longer be accepting produce.
When announcing the closure, BC Tree Fruits said that the decision was driven by challenging growing conditions, low fruit estimates and "difficult market and financial conditions"
The cooperative then applied for creditor protection and all assets – including its numerous storage facilities – were frozen. This left more than 300 growers who had been members of BC Tree Fruits without a place to store their rapidly ripening produce.
On August 26, the cooperative was court-ordered to liquidate its assets and the storage and processing facilities, land, machinery and equipment valued at more than $100million began to be listed for sale in order to pay off more than $50 million in debt.
With closure of BC Tree Fruits, frozen assets and subsequent order to sell, the storage facilities that are made to hold millions of pounds of fruit sat empty as time ticked on. Many growers were left without storage and some contemplated leaving their fruit on the trees to rot.
"Mother nature doesn't wait for bureaucracy," said Avi Gill, a third generation fruit farmer and the CEO of Farming Karma.
Gill explained that after fruit is harvested farmers have a narrow window of time to get the produce on shelves or into storage before it begins to spoil.
In collaboration with Novem, a predominantly pharmaceutical company, Farming Karma has secured access to specialized fruit storage space to be used by local growers this fall.
"This move comes at a critical time for BC’s tree fruit industry, which has many growers struggling to find adequate storage solutions," said Gill.
He said that at the facility they will be able to store approximately 25 million pounds of Okanagan-grown produce. Gaining access to the facility will not completely solve the issue of storage space for all farmers, but it will help.
"This is just one avenue, not an ultimate solution," said Gill.
The Sexsmith property contains the highly sought after CA storage facility, where approximately 25 million pounds of fruit can be kept in a low-oxygen environment where it remains ageless nearly indefinitely until it is ready to be consumed.
"To have this area available, we will be able to help growers in our region. We are deeply committed to the success of our local growers"
For more information on the storage facilities contact info@farmingkarma.ca.
