What can we make of the demise of the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative?

Event Details

• Wednesday, January 8, 2025, 12:00 - 1:00 PM CST (Saskatchewan time)
• Join us online via Zoom – click here to register:  https://uregina.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8kw6wjXwwsUuUqW

Event Description

With an 80-year history in British Columbia's Okanagan region, BC Tree Fruits Cooperative – a grower-owned co-operative that processed, stored, packaged, and sold fruit – filed for insolvency in 2024. BC Tree Fruits Cooperative represented 250 grower families and had more than $111 million in assets in 2023. While this came as a shock to many outside the sector, it was anticipated by many within. When a co-operative of this size goes under, it gets a lot of media attention. In this Co-op Conversation, Dr. Chris Bodnar will focus on factors that led to the demise of the co-operative, including long-term declines in the apple sector, member in-fighting, and overall challenges facing agriculture in BC. Chris will also share the lessons learned from this case and provide some thoughts on how other co-operatives can avoid this fate.

About our Speaker

Dr. Chris Bodnar is an Assistant Professor in Agriculture at the University of Fraser Valley. Chris has over 18 years experience as a vegetable farmer in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Chris’ research interest is on co-operative business models and has been active in studying agricultural co-ops in different parts of the world and developing policy approaches to supporting agricultural co-ops in BC.

About Co-op Conversations

The Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives' (CCSC) Co-op Conversations is an online gathering for co-operative sector professionals to learn from others in the field and exchange information in a casual setting. Each Co-op Conversation will be held during lunch hours (Saskatchewan time) on the first Wednesday of the month.

Each Co-op Conversation will be kick-started with a 15-minute presentation by an invited speaker who is working on or thinking about something new, challenging, or inspiring. Following the presentation, we’ll facilitate a broad conversation. Sometimes participants will be broken into small groups to discuss ideas. Other times the floor will be opened for questions, comments, and dialogue from everyone. 

Click here for more information :  https://usaskstudies.coop/news-and-events/talks-and-lectures.php

Questions? Email coop.studies@usask.ca