GUELPH, ON – Organic Meadow Co-operative Inc., pioneers of the organic milk market in Ontario, has filed for creditor protection in order to complete a restructuring of its operations. The company's goal is to emerge from the restructuring in a stronger financial position. The filing comes as an unavoidable and necessary move due to the onerous business terms recently placed upon it by the province's milk marketing board.
"This is about protecting the earned rights of the founding farmers of the organic dairy category in Ontario. Organic Meadow Co-operative members account for over 70 percent of the supply of organic milk in Ontario. In filing for protection, and restructuring our business, we are protecting the very rights of our farmers," said Don Rees, CEO, Organic Meadow Co-operative Inc. "Our goal is to work with the milk marketing board and all of our creditors to put a restructuring plan in place that allows us to emerge from this process stronger, and which allows us to work with Dairy Farmers of Ontario ["DFO"] in growing the organic milk market we started in 1989. We want to reassure all of our customers, employees, suppliers and consumers who have come to love and trust Organic Meadow products that we will be operating business-as-usual during this restructuring process."
"All of the Co-operative's dairy farmer members are disappointed that we could not find a resolution which would have enabled the Co-operative to continue conducting business without the need for creditor protection. We view the filing as a short-term action that will enable the company to complete a restructuring process that began a few months ago," said Ted Minten, Vice Chair, Organic Meadow Co-operative Inc., who along with this extended family has been farming organically since 2002. "While our new business model was beginning to significantly improve our results and we were well along a process to bring in a new investor group, substantial milk allocation shortfalls in the December to February period and the change to business terms by our largest vendor were impossible hurdles for us to overcome. We're hopeful that through this process we can work with DFO to reach a mutually beneficial solution."
About Organic Meadow
Organic Meadow is Canada's oldest co-operative of organic farmers and one of the nation's leading organic dairy brands. Organized in 1989 around a farm kitchen table, it represents over 100 family farms across Ontario. Organic Meadow offers a complete line of organic dairy products including organic milk, cheese, butter, cream, eggs, yogurt and ice cream, which are sold in retail stores across the country. For more information and to learn about Organic Meadow's 25 years of sustainable agriculture, visit www.organicmeadow.com.
Source: Organic Meadow
