Its parent may be collapsing, but Parmalat Canada says it plans to continue walking tall.
“Parmalat Canada is fine,” said spokesperson Gillian Hewitt.
“Business continues as usual here. There is no special status for Parmalat Canada and it just keeps on producing.”
That opinion has cheered dairy farmers, who supply milk to Parmalat plants in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.
“We’re not affected by anything at Parmalat,” said Teresa Ciccarelli, a spokesperson for Manitoba Milk Producers.
“It’s business as usual right now. We’re definitely not affected in any sort of way right now.”
Read Also
One Beer Market Updates Day 3 – Lentils and beef
Day 3 of the One Beer Market Update at Ag in Motion 2025.
Parmalat, a multinational milk processor based in Italy, is in turmoil as it reels from a devastating financial scandal that has made it the European Union’s version of Enron.
The company is in bankruptcy protection and on Dec. 19 it admitted that a $4.7 billion US bank balance it once claimed did not exist.
Billions of dollars in Parmalat’s books are also unaccounted for. Various company officials have now been charged.
The company is being reorganized by an administrator appointed by the Italian government. The rescue plan, which has not yet been approved, calls for the company to focus on operations in 10 countries – including Canada – and dump its operations in 20 other countries. The workforce would be cut to 17,000 from about 32,000.
On Dec. 30, Parmalat issued a News release
news reassuring dairy farmers that the company “is carrying out its normal business activities” and is “also reassuring farmers with regard to payments for raw materials.”
The Canadian version of Parmalat has not issued a public reassurance, but Hewitt said the company has spoken to milk boards in the provinces where it has operations and has told them to expect no changes.
“We’re paying our bills on time, just like we always do,” said Hewitt.
The Canadian subsidiary is not directly caught up in the European parent’s financial meltdown, Hewitt said, because it is a separate company.
“The Canadian operation has independent financing,” he said.
“It operates and is financed completely independently of the parent, although it is completely owned by the parent.”
Apart from Canada, Parmalat may try to maintain operations in Italy, Australia, South Africa, Spain, Portugal, Colombia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Russia and Romania.
