‘It was a great community to be a part of’: Local producers react to sudden closure of the Mustard Seed

When it came to planning next year's crop at Mad Meadow Farm, owner Madeleine Kassinger said she had plans to go even bigger" than before.

But with the sudden closure of the Mustard Seed Co-op - one of their biggest customers - her master plan may have to be scaled back."

The small-scale Millgrove farm, owned and operated by Kassinger, focuses on a variety of mixed vegetables - growing anything from heirloom tomatoes and daikon radishes to cauliflower and eggplant.

At the Mustard Seed, they were supplying veggies for both the bounty box program as well as the store shelves, stocking them with produce such as rhubarb and lettuce.

Next year, they had plans to grow more conventional" items to appeal to more customers.

However, the York Boulevard grocery store announced to its members Monday that it had filed for bankruptcy following an unsuccessful attempt to raise enough funds to pay down its debts to suppliers.

According to an email sent to members from the now-resigned board of directors, the co-op's unsecured liabilities exceeded its assets by more than $300,000.

The Spectator has made repeated attempts to contact the board for comment but has not received a response.

The sudden closure has left Kassinger wondering what to do next spring.

It's hard when you're not certified organic and you have a smaller volume, as larger grocery stores won't pick you up," said Kassinger. I think I'm just going to have to scale back a little bit."

Kassinger said the farm has been a steady supplier to the store for a number of months up until about seven weeks ago when a hailstorm, followed by intense heat, devastated some of their crops.

Come fall, she had plans to sell squash to the grocery store - now, they'll likely have to go to market, something that risks waste for farmers like herself.

Now, I'm bringing double the squash to market, and I don't know if it's going to sell," said Kassinger. To know things are already sold, it makes things a lot more stress-free. It was a reliable sale."

The Spectator spoke to three local suppliers for the store, who aside from losing a local retailer, are feeling the loss of a store that focused on local produce and provisions.

Jamie Waldron, owner of J. Waldron Butchers, said he worked with the store for around a year as a meat supplier. His major dealings with the Mustard Seed revolved around sausages, as the two collaborated on custom recipes that were exclusive to the store.

Waldron said he didn't get caught up in the debt-to-suppliers issue too, too bad."

My business isn't in jeopardy because of it," he said.

Waldron's concern was more with the business itself closing, making it another store shuttered due - at least partially - to the pandemic.

It saddens me that this model couldn't survive because it was so valuable and it was such a great part of Hamilton," said Waldron, pressing the importance of small businesses. I loved having my product there ... it was a great community to be a part of."

The same sentiment rang true for Jessica Pasuta, owner of Hamilton's Growing Broke Farm. In an email to The Spectator, Pasuta said the co-op was their first retail supplier for their meats and their sales will be affected.

The store, she said, allowed them to reach customers who were unable to travel to their Campbellville Road farm, while also sharing a space with other local growers and makers. Pasuta said they were owed less than $100 from their last delivery just over a week ago and are assuming it will be a loss."

These last couple years have seen so many local businesses challenged with the changes COVID has brought to our lives," said Pasuta. We understand that it put (the co-op) in a bad position and it's heartbreaking to hear there are a lot of suppliers left being owed as a result."

Ted Michalos, a Guelph-based licensed insolvency trustee, said the bankruptcy process of a not-for-profit co-op grocery store, such as the Mustard Seed, operates no differently than that of a corporate bankruptcy where any money first goes to pay off debts to the store's most recent suppliers, such as their farmers.

Member and longtime shopper Jessica Stirling said the closure of the shop is bittersweet." She and her kids would drop by and pick up loaves of sourdough or grab a coffee.

Stirling said she did not receive emails about the cash calls," but when the $100 lifetime membership became renewable a few years ago, she had a hunch things weren't going as great as one would hope" at the store.

She said the shop also wasn't always affordable or accessible when it came to everyday things, leading her to only buy specialty items and larger bulk goods there.

The pandemic also changed Stirling's shopping habits at the store, as she resides on the Mountain and wasn't coming downtown as frequently - something the board acknowledged in their letter to members. That was probably why they struggled even harder," said Stirling. It's sad, and kind of bittersweet. I always held out hope."

As reported by The Canadian Press, the country's largest grocers saw sales increase at the beginning of the pandemic as shoppers stockpiled items and went to full-service stores instead of discount supermarkets to reduce trips out of the house.

But more recently, Metro, Loblaw and Empire noted an increase in traffic but more muted sales, potentially indicating people are shopping around more now and spending money at restaurants, according to a story from last month.

Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com