May 8, 2019

Canadian tree fruit cooperative plans land purchase

Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada-based BC Tree Fruits Cooperative (BCTFC)  has officially announce the purchase of 85 acres of land in Kelowna, British Columbia (BC) with the purpose of building a new facility under the Cooperative’s new “One Roof” plan. In conjunction with this purchase, BCTFC has an agreement in place to sell their property in Penticton, BC. Both transactions will be completed by May 31, 2019.

“Today is an exciting day for all of us at the Cooperative,” states Todd McMyn, Chief Executive Officer of BC Tree Fruits Cooperative. “This purchase signals our commitment to the industry, our growers, our staff and the Valley and will give us the ability to compete on a global scale moving forward.

“I’m thrilled for the future of our Cooperative following today’s news,” says BC Tree Fruits Cooperative Chairperson Jeet Dukhia. “On behalf of the rest of the Board of Directors of the Cooperative, we are looking forward to working closely with the senior management as we design and build a world class facility that all of our grower members and staff can be proud of.”

BCTFC Board of Directors and CEO will be working closely with all levels of government over the near future laying the framework for the new facility located on Old Vernon Road in Kelowna. When complete, the “One Roof” plan will see a consolidation of all of the Cooperative’s northern facilities into this new facility, which will house state of the art apple, cherry, pear and soft fruit packing line(s) as well as office space and the cider operations and a “destination” cidery.

There are no immediate details available at this time on the beginning of construction, but updates on the progress of this new facility will be made available through bctreefruits.com.