New documents from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Canada, the trustee handling Merit Functional Foods’ bankruptcy, show the company still owes just under $102.4 million to unsecured creditors, as well as outstanding debts to its secured creditors.
PwC sent the information to creditors ahead of a Nov. 13 meeting, the first such creditors meeting held since Merit officially filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 23, 2025. PwC was appointed trustee the same day that filing was made.
WHY IT MATTERS: The Prairie plant protein space was rocked in 2023 with news that Winnipeg-based Merit Functional Foods had hit a financial wall.
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Merit had been under court-ordered receivership since March 1, 2023, following a February filing from Export Development Canada (EDC) and Farm Credit Canada (FCC). At that time, the two, both secured lenders in the proceedings, said they were owed $58.5 million and $36.5 million respectively, based on debt financing they had provided for the company in 2020.
Merit had opened in early 2021 with major financial backing from Export Development Canada, Farm Credit Canada, CIBC and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, as well as an interest-free $10-million AgriInnovate loan. Shareholders included Burcon NutraScience, Bunge, and a group of former Hemp Oil Canada executives.
PwC, also the appointed trustee for the recievership, has since sold off all the company’s remaining finished and raw inventory and collected most of its accounts receivable. That money was used to pay off Merit’s main operating lender, CIBC, which was owed about $5 million at the start of the process.
Inventory sales brought in about $3.3 million, and PwC recovered roughly $571,000 in receivables, though a small portion couldn’t be collected, according to documents posted on the case by PwC. CIBC had first claim on this money, and other secured lenders agreed to let PwC use the proceeds to clear that debt so it would stop accumulating interest.
Money owed to EDC and FCC, as Merit’s other secured lenders, are listed later in the recent bankruptcy filings.
The company’s Winnipeg plant still remains a question. Court documents from earlier this year showed that PwC had a line on a Manitoba numbered company as a buyer and had requested court approval for the sale. As of the latest filings, no deal had been finalized.
The receiver filed a detailed update with the court, but a judge ordered that part of the report sealed, noting that releasing it during the sale process could hurt the chances of getting the best price. PwC has said the information will be made public once a sale is complete.
Bankruptcy documents
With bulk assets sold during receivership and that money directed to secured lenders, the bankruptcy statement of affairs now contains only the leftover debt. PwC lists $102,398,560 in unsecured claims and $1 in cash remaining.
The unsecured trade creditor list includes more than 200 businesses and organizations. Among the largest amounts are $548,799.98 owed to the RM of Rosser, $331,136.82 owed to Manitoba Hydro, and $188,462.40 owed to Manitoba Hydro International.
Merit’s own filing says rising operating costs, competition, and product issues all played a role in its financial woes.
No farmers, however, have been left unpaid.
The Canadian Grain Commission audited Merit twice in 2023. First in March, then again when the company’s grain dealer licence was not renewed July 1. Both audits confirmed the company had “no outstanding producer liabilities.”
By July, Merit was barred from taking in grain or creating any new obligations to farmers. Producers who still had contracts on paper at the time of receivership received direct notice from PwC with next steps.
Disclosure: Glacier FarmMedia, the parent company of this publication, is listed as an unsecured trade creditor in the bankruptcy filings with a claim of $1,785.
