Prima Wawona BB #:165373 Cutler, CA, plans to liquidate and has given employees 60-day termination notices.
According to a court filing January 3, MVK Farmco LLC (the legal name of the Prima owner and the consolidated case) filed a notice of hearing to consider confirmation of a joint Chapter 11 plan of liquidation, which will take place February 8.
A source told Blue Book that employees had been given termination notices.
In October, Prima Wawona, which is the largest stone fruit producer in the country, announced plans to transfer ownership and recapitalize, as it entered voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings.
However, court documents show MVK cancelled a December auction and filed an amended reorganization plan with the intent to liquidate, after company attorneys told the court it did not receive a high enough bid.
According to the San Joaquin Valley Sun, Prima Wawona has about 13,500 acres of land to liquidate, which is estimated to cost $370 million, split into seven groups in southeastern and west Fresno County.
The financial fall of Prima Wawona has been a dramatic one.
About five years ago, Gerawan Farming and Wawona Packing merged, with the financial backing of private equity firm Paine Schwartz. In 2021, Paine Schwartz took over the merged company and fired Dan Gerawan, former owner of Gerawan Farming and CEO during the merger.
Gerawan has sued Paine Schwartz, alleging that it intentionally sunk the company for financial gain.
Read all the Prima Wawona coverage here.
Editor’s note:
We received the following statement from Wawona Frozen Foods BB #:195082: The San Joaquin Valley-based, family-owned and operated Wawona Frozen Foods is not affiliated in any way with the fresh fruit company, Prima Wawona. Wawona Frozen Foods is a third-generation company which just celebrated its 60th year in business and is among the largest frozen fruit companies in the nation.
