Natural Organic Food Group (NOFG) has handed over the keys to its Charlottetown hog plant after the province called in a $1.5 million loan, CBC reported Friday.
The company, which recently announced plans to go into receivership, told a news conference Friday that the P.E.I. government had given the company 10 days to repay the government loan.
CBC said the province plans to appoint a receiver to run the plant, which took hogs from across the Maritimes and from Quebec.
Quebec City-based NOFG bought the former Garden Province Meats facility in August 2006 and launched a substantial marketing campaign for its organic pork under the PEI Natural, PEI Organic and PEI Omega 3 brands.
The provincial government announced last month that it would withhold any further financial aid for the plant and would bring in the auditor general’s office to investigate the province’s relationship to the plant.
Premier Robert Ghiz said at the time he wants the public to get “a thorough understanding of exactly what has taken place at NOFG since taxpayers’ dollars began to flow to that company in 2006.”
