P.E.I. potato farmers come closer to settling contract dispute with Cavendish Farms

Prince Edward Island potato growers may be one step closer to settling a contract dispute with Cavendish Farms. But they’ll have to wait until Wednesday to find out how close they’ve come.

After nearly two weeks away from the table, the potato growers negotiating committee met with Cavendish Farms on Friday, according to a representative from the potato board.
He said after a full day of talks, they have come out with a new offer for potato growers to consider.

The offer, which won’t be made public until the grower’s meet on Wednesday, is the first since nearly 180 growers turned down the processor’s third offer July 2.

At that time, Cavendish offered a 60-cent base price increase per hundred weight to growers, with an additional 15 per cent increase as a quality incentive.

In total, the offer would have meant that for each hundred weight sold, growers would get roughly $9.25.