TORONTO — The Canadian company that processed plant-based milk linked to a deadly listeria outbreak is looking to sell two of its facilities while it liquidates the Pickering, Ont., location where the outbreak originated.
Toronto-based Joriki, which was granted court protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act last week, saw its revenue fall due in part to the loss of key customers after several plant-based milks it manufactured under the Silk and Great Value brands were recalled.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the Pickering plant was the source of a listeria outbreak that infected at least 20 people across the country and led to three deaths between August 2023 and July 2024.
In its application for CCAA protection, chief financial officer Michael Devon said in an affidavit that Joriki has potential buyers for turnkey sales of its Toronto and Delta, B.C., facilities, noting some of its customers rely on those facilities.
Joriki ceased business operations and on the last day of 2024 laid off almost all of its employees and has been unable to pay them severance. Prior to that, it had about 565 full-time and temporary employees, the documents show, about 337 of whom were employed by Joriki Canada.
Joriki was founded in 1991 and expanded into B.C. in 2010, according to Devon. In 2022, it began work on its U.S. production facility.
But the court documents show that challenges with Joriki’s expansion into the U.S. made the company more vulnerable to the financial hit caused by the outbreak.
Devon said delays and cost overruns on its new Pittston, Pa., site had led to significant losses, and that the company’s turnaround plan for the plant was derailed by the strain of the recall.
He said Joriki's U.S. subsidiary filed a petition under Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code this month.
The company is facing a class-action lawsuit launched in Quebec which has not yet been certified.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2025.
The Canadian Press
