Search
Better Farming OntarioBetter PorkBetter Farming Prairies

Better Farming Ontario Featured Articles

Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Marketing commission revokes tomato processor's licence

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

by SUSAN MANN

The Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission has revoked the vegetable processing licence of Jema International Food Products Inc. after the company failed to pay several tomato growers for last year’s crop.

The commission held a hearing in March in Guelph and ordered Jema, which is affiliated with DaVinci Foods of Montreal, to pay the growers $363,977.81 plus reasonable interest by May 15. The bulk of the money is owed to four Leamington-area growers.

By May 23, the growers still hadn’t received their money so the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers requested the company’s licence to process vegetables be revoked. The company also failed to provide the first of two $250,000 letters of credit for this year’s operations, the commission’s latest decision notes. The first letter was due by May 18 and the second by Aug. 1. The decision, dated May 30, is posted on the commission’s website.

The commission gave Jema until May 29 at 4 p.m. to make submissions before it decided to revoke the company’s licence.

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.”

The company’s licence being revoked means it can no longer buy vegetables from growers. Jema processed tomatoes.

“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.”

Krueger explains ordinarily tomato processors contract their tomatoes in advance, with the company supplying the plants to the growers and measuring the acreage. Without a licence, “none of that is happening this year,” in connection with Jema, he says.

Krueger says the affected farmers also grow for other processors and will continue growing for those other companies. BF
 

Current Issue

September 2024

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

Stinger Spade Bits kit from Spyder

Friday, September 20, 2024

By Braxteen Breen, Whether you are constructing/repairing fencing and other structures around the farm, you can get those tasks completed on the farm quickly with the Stinger Spade Bits kit from Spyder. The Spade Bits kit provides an economical solution for someone who wants to make... Read this article online

$18.4M Boost for Canadian Cereal Grain Innovation

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Gate Project Receives Major Funding for Research Canada's position as a pioneer in cereal grain research is set to strengthen with the Gate Capital Campaign raising $18.4 million. This funding will support the Global Agriculture Technology Exchange (Gate) initiative, a project... Read this article online

BASF introduces Surtain herbicide for field corn growers

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Field corn growers in eastern Canada have a new crop protection product available to them. After about 10 years of research and trials, BASF has introduced Surtain, a residual herbicide for corn that combines PPO inhibitor saflufenacil (Group 14) and pyroxasulfone (Group 15) in a premix... Read this article online

New home for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario

Saturday, September 14, 2024

The Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario (CFFO) has announced it has moved into its new office building in Ingersoll. Located at 274620 27th Line in Ingersoll, the new office will serve as the hub for CFFO’s ongoing efforts to advocate for and support Ontario’s Christian farmers.... Read this article online

BF logo

It's farming. And it's better.

 

a Farms.com Company

Subscriptions

Subscriber inquiries, change of address, or USA and international orders, please email: subscriptions@betterfarming.com or call 888-248-4893 x 281.


Article Ideas & Media Releases

Have a story idea or media release? If you want coverage of an ag issue, trend, or company news, please email us.

Follow us on Social Media

 

Sign up to a Farms.com Newsletter

 

DisclaimerPrivacy Policy2024 ©AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Back To Top