Shape up

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/08/2012 (4989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Since its construction six years ago, Brandon’s Shape Foods plant has had a rather tumultuous existence.

The plant, which crushes locally produced flax seed into omega-3 flax oil and meal for human consumption, was built in 2006 for $30 million, after its previous owners secured $9 million in loans from Vanguard Credit Union and the provincial government under the Manitoba Industrial Opportunities Program.

The plant had been touted by the provincial government as proof that value-added production and diversification was “critical to the prosperity of rural Manitoba,” as Interlake NDP MLA Tom Nevakshonoff said in the legislature in 2007.

At its peak, the 70,000-square-foot facility had employed 60 people.

Upon its construction, company representatives initially expected the plant would be up to peak capacity within five years of its completion. When the Brandon Sun had a tour of the facility in 2008, co-founder Barry Comis suggested that the plant’s main product — flax oil, with sunflower and olive oil blends — had been so well received by a New-York-based supermarket chain, that the plant would be at full peak at the two-year mark.

And then, all too quickly, the bottom fell out when the previous owner of the plant filed for voluntary receivership. All 60 employees lost their jobs and $1.7 million in process oil, bottles and other supplies were left in limbo.

Approximately 18 months later, following a great deal of behind-the-scenes wrangling from interested parties, the plant had a new owner, a pared-down workforce and a revamped business strategy.

A Brandon Court of Queen’s Bench judge approved the sale of Shape’s assets to former Shape Foods board member and former Manitoba Progressive Conservative deputy premier Jim Downey and three other principal shareholders for $5.1 million.

The original owners of the company planned to market the plant’s flax oil to the U.S., but the new company’s focus shifted to building a base market for bulk oil and flax meal.

Rather obviously, it has been a difficult road to rebuild the facility and increasing production is slow work. However, it appears the effort may be paying off. As the Sun has reported, Shape Foods was in arrears to the City of Brandon for $114,000 for its 2010 property tax bill — a debt that has now been paid in time before a pending tax sale in October.

The new CEO, Taras Sokolyk, who took over the helm four months ago after serving as the CEO with Canad Inns, says the business is “going reasonably well,” which is certainly a relief for Manitoba and Saskatchewan producers who hope to sell product to the plant.

 Sokolyk said the firm has signed new contracts and sales have increased. If proven true, it may mean that the Shape Foods plant has finally found a stable foundation. For the good of the company, and of Brandon’s local workforce, we certainly hope so.