NORPAC was a farmer-owned company that worked to improve farming and food processing practices in the US. The company had to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in August 2019, stating it had $164 million in debt.
The company that won the right to purchase some of the assets of NORPAC Foods in bankruptcy court has sued the farmer-owned cooperative for $7.1 million. Now, the former NORPAC is proposing to pay $4.5 million to settle with its former farmers for crops they delivered to the agricultural processor in 2019 while the company was starting its bankruptcy proceedings, but it’s about a quarter of what the farmers are owed.
In the filing submitted Tuesday by Tonkon Torp attorney Albert Kennedy, who is representing the bankrupt co-op now known as North Pacific Canners and Packers, farmers who delivered crops to the company in 2019 were owed over $16 million.
Eu.statesmanjournal.com reports that, for the settlement to move forward, farmers with 85% of the outstanding claims must sign the agreement.
