By Liam Verster

Local orchardist urges growers take steps to protect operations, wants new co-op established

Aug 20, 2024 | 3:05 PM

The owner of Gatzke Orchard is hoping the dissolvent of the B.C. Tree Fruits Cooperative won’t be a long term issue, but encourages other growers in the Okanagan take action to support themselves and their products in the meantime.

The Tree Fruit Co-Op announced it was shutting down in July and as of time of publication was filing for creditor protection, meaning it was looking to liquidate assets to settle debts.

Alan Gatzke, owner of the orchard in Oyama, told Vernon Matters the Tree Fruit Co-Op has around $100-million worth of assets, and a lot of those are much needed by local producers.

“There’s a whole bunch of things that the co-op provides beyond just the packing and marketing of the apples,” Gatzke explained.

“One of them is to provide bins and to provide storage. So one of the challenges that is immediately evident is where who picks the apples, what do they put them into? Where are they stored until they’re packed?

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“The co-op had eight or nine facilities, more than a half a dozen facilities, that held tens-of-thousands of bins in them. I know there’s one in Winfield, there’s one in Rutland, Summerland, Osoyoos, Keremeos. They all had these packing houses and literally thousands of bins stacked outside of them. So now the growers going to the new private packers, maybe their equipment can pack the fruit but I don’t think the private packers have an extra 70,000 bins on hand, nor do they have the storage facilities to hold the apples.”

Gatzke added the co-op had ‘controlled atmosphere’ storage facilities where apples could be left in a cold, oxygen-free setting so they would not spoil and could be sold months after being harvested, rather than needing to offload all the product right at the end of the growing season, which he did not believe would be offered through most private packers.

The former co-op also had several grower supply facilities where farmers could purchase their chemicals, sprays, fencing, packaging material, and more at discounted rates.

The orchardist noted the Tree Fruit Co-Op had traditionally held a food safe certification for processing and packing the fruit as well, and recommends growers get their own certification immediately.

“My advice would be to acquire your Group C Food Safety [for processing and packing fruit],”Gatzke said, adding growers should also get some supplies for their operations.

“Purchase or acquire some bins so that you have the power to pick your fruit and send it to your packer.”

He also advised growers fill out a submission to the B.C. Tree Fruits Cooperative Members: Impacted Producer Needs Survey, which can be used to help connect growers to private industry, but also allows for data to be collected on the variety and volume of crop being harvested in the Okanagan.

With the Tree Fruit Co-Op looking to sell off all it’s equipment and assets, Gatzke hopes another co-op emerges and takes over the operations for the Okanagan and surrounding region.

“Right now the Ministry of Agriculture is helping facilitate and get the packers and the growers communicating and hope that they can strike a deal for this year’s crop,” Gatzke told Vernon Matters.

“It’s my wish, although I’m not holding my breath, but it’s my wish that we see some kind of co-op come back. My concern is long term and for the industry and the legacy that we leave for the future here in the valley. It was the tree fruit industry and the government support of these collectives of people that built the irrigation system, they built the flumes at the turn of the century and then it became irrigation systems and then collaborative marketing though B.C. Tree Fruits as one example, but there’s a number of co-ops over the years that really built the valley from Salmon Arm to Osoyoos.

“The fruit industry has been the fabric that ties our communities together from one of the other, and the loss of that and the shift towards privatization will, in my fear, will change the legacy of what the industry looks like in the future.”

He added there was a team trying to rebuild the co-op, but said there are “a lot of hurdles to clear” to secure the assets from the former organization and re-establish a group in the region. Gatzke noted the assets were paid through member contributions over the years, and hoped the court’s decision would see that equipment preserved for the industry to continue to use moving forward through a co-op or hybrid co-op-private model.

Gatzke also stated the fruit growing industry is not just a major employer, but also plays a role in the valley’s tourism industry, and would not want to see operations start to shut down and because there are no supports for the products grown in the region, particularly for smaller producers who private companies may not see as appealing to partner with.

The orchardist said the co-op’s creditor protection case would be heard in late-August, and and hopes to see a decision that benefits the local producers come from the court.