GBP Canada: Marketing Commission Revokes Tomato Processor's Licence

June 08, 2012

The Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission has revoked the vegetable processing licence of Jem international Food Products Inc. as the company has failed to pay some tomato growers for their supply last year.

The commission held a hearing in march and ordered the company, which is affiliated to DaVinci Foods in Montreal, to pay growers $363,977.81 plus interest by May 15th.

As the money had not been received by May 23rd the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers asked that the licence be revoked. The comapny has also failed to provide the first of two $250,000 letters of credit for this year's operations.

Al Krueger, executive assistant to the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers, says the growers are pursuing payment through the courts. Jema also failed to remit grower licence fees to the Processing Vegetable Growers. That money totals a few thousand dollars, he notes. "It's not anywhere near what the growers are out. It's the growers who are suffering in this one."

A revoked licence means that the company is unable to but vegetables from growers.

"We thought that it was important to them that they have a licence to process and they would, in fact, process this year," he explains. "They seemed to indicate that they wanted to be in operation this year."

- Source: Fresh Plaza

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