Pusateri's Fine Foods owes creditors $37M

Exec says upscale grocer has been facing significant financial pressures’

- MARISA COULTON

Italian boutique grocer Pusateri’s owes creditors more than $37 million, according to notices published by Albert Gelman Inc., the insolvency trustee assigned to the filings, on Tuesday.

Its Yorkville location owes at least $8 million; its Bayview Village location $10.1 million; and its prep kitchen, Pusateri’s Kitchen Ltd., $19.3 million.

Scotiabank is the largest secured creditor listed on the notice obtained by the Star, with $4.9 million owed for computers, furniture, inventory, leaseholds, and other prepaid and sundry assets, the notice states.

The five unsecured creditors listed which are owed the most across all locations are Happy Pops Inc., owed more than $117,000; Rahier Patisserie, $74,700; KeHe Distributors, $47,600; Martelli Foods Inc., $41,700; and Lesley’s Party Sandwiches is owed around $31,600.

The Yorkville and Bayview Village stores, and Pusateri’s Kitchen, were each separate corporate entities. The first meeting of the creditors will take place on Aug. 30, the notice states.

Prior to Friday’s announcement that Pusateri’s would be shuttering several of its stores and putting them into bankruptcy, suppliers told the Star that the grocer was struggling to pay invoices and has left many in the lurch.

The owner of a small business that sells prepackaged organic salads says he has a history of difficulty being paid by the grocer.

Another supplier, with invoices several months overdue, said Pusateri’s was slow to respond to her emails. When the grocer did respond, she was told that the invoices had been entered into their system incorrectly. She refused to deliver more product until they paid her. When Pusateri’s finally paid, she ended the business relationship.