Hello Rossana,

Food and Beverage Industry News - August 2023!

The Labour, Trade and Economic Development Branch supports economic growth across Ontario’s agri-food value chain by helping businesses, rural communities and organizations to prosper by providing information, resources and programming, as well as helping to make direct business connections with buyers, suppliers and investors. 

To contact one of our Economic and Business Development Advisors please send an email to ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca or call 1-877-424-1300.

Edition features:

• Highlight
• Funding programs
• Trade events
• OMAFRA Webinars
• Industry news
• Research and innovation opportunities
• Resources

HIGHLIGHT

Become a Foodland Ontario Partner!

Did you know nine in ten shoppers recognize the Foodland Ontario logo and associate it with local food?

Using the Foodland Ontario logo on your local food products, website and marketing materials is the best way to help consumers identify Ontario foods when shopping at their grocery store, farmers’ market, and on-farm markets. Now more than ever, consumers feel pride when supporting Ontario growers, producers and food businesses.

If your local food products align with the Ontario food definitions outlined on foodlandontario.ca, you can complete the online form and apply to become a partner! For any inquiries, please contact us at foodland@ontario.ca.

FUNDING PROGRAMS

Apply now for the Grow Ontario Market Initiative!

Canada and Ontario are investing up to $6 million in market development efforts under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP) to help eligible agri-food businesses and industry organizations expand into domestic and foreign markets.

The Grow Ontario Market Initiative is a new, cost-share initiative that helps food and beverage processors, farm businesses and agri-food sector organizations take actions to reach new markets. Examples of eligible projects could include:



• market analysis and planning
• product development activities
• new market-entry promotional efforts to expand opportunities for Ontario food products

Under the Grow Ontario Market Initiative, applicants can receive up to 50 per cent cost share for eligible costs, to a maximum of $60,000 per business for producers and food and beverage processors, and up to $125,000 for sector organizations. Eligible businesses can apply for support through this program opened on May 19, 2023.

Grow Ontario Market Initiative Guidelines and Application can be found on the website here.

Sustainable CAP is a five-year (2023-2028), $3.5-billion investment by federal‐provincial and territorial governments to strengthen competitiveness, innovation, and resiliency of the agriculture, agri‐food and agri‐based products sector.

Ontario Launches New Fund to Build Skilled Trades Training Centers 

Applications for the new Skills Development Fund (SDF) Capital Stream opened on June 30 and will be accepted until September 25, 2023.



This program will help unions, Indigenous centres, and industry associations with funding to build new training centres, or upgrade and convert existing facilities into new training centres with state-of-the-art equipment and technology.

To find out if you are eligible for the SDF Capital Stream, visit:

Skills Development Fund: Capital Stream | ontario.ca

Funding to Adopt New Technologies through CDAP

The Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) offers funding to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt new digital tools in order to stay competitive.

CDAP comprises two separate funding components:

• Grow your Business online grants will help businesses adopt e-commerce technologies are eligible for this $2,400 micro-grant.

• Boost your Technology funding helps SMEs that want to further improve their productivity and be competitive in the digital marketplace. Applicants can receive 90% up to a maximum cost of $15,000 or an interest free loan of up to $100,000.

More information can be found on the website.

TRADE EVENTS

Exhibit in the Ontario Pavilion at Grocery Innovations Canada!

Exhibit in the Ontario Pavilion at GIC tradeshow to increase your visibility and get a turn-key booth package for the discounted rate of $2,050 – a savings of $900!

When: October 24^th-25^th, 2023

Where: Toronto Congress Centre

To register your booth please contact Rolster Taylor, rtaylor@cfig.ca or by phone at (416) 492-4878.

Connect and grow your business and sales with the direct route to grocery shelves across the province and the country! Participate in the must attend industry B2B event, Grocery Innovations Canada with over 5,600 of the nation’s leading grocery retailers and decision-makers! Buyers, wholesalers, distributors and foodservice and restaurant representatives are in attendance to discover the thousands of innovations at the exhibition.  

For more information visit the GIC Tradeshow Website.

The Canadian Health Food Association Natural Organic Wellness (CHFA NOW) Conference and Trade Show is coming to the Exhibition Place! Visit the OMAFRA booth #303 from Sept 23-24th to gain industry insights, network, and more! For more info, visit: chfanow.ca/toronto

CHFA NOW is a must attend event for anyone who works in the natural, organic and wellness industry in Canada.

You can reach Stephen Smith, OMAFRA’s Economic and Business Advisor at Stephen.p.smith@ontario.ca

OMAFRA WEBINARS

Webinar: How to Pitch Your Food and Beverage Products, September 20th

On September 20th at 9:30 am EDT join the Government of Ontario in collaboration with Innovate by Day for a free webinar to learn more about how to pitch your food and beverage company to international buyers. This free webinar will provide insights on how to prepare a capabilities statement, preparing your website for international clients, and best practices for pitching your food and beverage company to buyers.

Register here to attend the Webinar

For more information contact Guru Bhatia, Economic and Business Advisor at Guru.bhatia@ontario.ca

INDUSTRY NEWS

Join Meat & Poultry Ontario for the Meating Conference in Muskoka, Oct 20 & 21

Join Meat and Poultry Ontario at the beautiful JW Marriott Muskoka for a one-of-a-kind event dedicated to inspiring and bringing together leaders in the meat industry. The Meating Place Conference is back, and this year, they are taking their theme to new heights with “Revive and Thrive.”

Are you ready to harness the power of leadership and drive your organization towards unparalleled success? Then mark your calendars for October 20 – 21 and secure your spot at this premier gathering of industry professionals, thought leaders, and visionaries.



Take advantage of early-bird pricing until Aug. 21

Download the 2023 FCC Food and Beverage Report 

The annual FCC Food and Beverage Report reviews last year’s economic environment and highlights opportunities and risks for Canadian food and beverage manufacturers for 2023. It includes projections of annual industry sales and new gross margin index forecasts by sector. Read the full report or dig into what’s most relevant to you.

Industries featured:  

• Grain and oilseed milling
• Sugar and confectionery products
• Fruit, vegetable and specialty food
• Dairy products
• Meat products
• Seafood preparations
• Bakery and tortilla products
• Soft drinks and alcoholic beverages 

Fully Funded Leadership and Supervisor Development Program

Skills Training Across Canada (STAC) is a new national online learning program designed by Food Processing Skills Canada (FPSC) to advance workforce development. This program is a fully funded, all-in-one solution to upskill your supervisors, lead hands and up and coming talent without impact to production time – we supply the tools (and the perks!) to improve your workforce.

Program Highlights

• 35+ proven online courses in technical skills, social emotional learning, leadership, diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Digital Credentials
• Access to a Learning Management System with employer and employee dashboard access to track progress
• Pathway available for employees to complete the process to becoming a Certified Food Production Supervisor ( a $900 value)
• Employee participant coaching, free Chromebooks, completion bonuses, babysitting subsidy, and graduation packages
• One-to-one, technical, and expert support, and onboarding resources.
• Employee access to block chain verified micro-credentials that can be kept in a digital wallet
• Access to optional HR Workshops & Mentorship for participating employees

Curriculum outline can be found on their website.

Further program details can be found on the STAC website.

Naloxone Kits and Addictions in the workplace: Balancing Privacy with Responsibility

The Occupational Health and Safety Act now requires workplaces to have a naloxone kit available and staff trained on its use if there is a risk of an employee experiencing an opioid overdose while at work. Naloxone is just one aspect of managing addictions at work. Find out what else employers can do by visiting their website.

RESEARCH AND INNOVATION OPPORTUNITIES

The Centre for Research & Innovation (CRI) offers funding and free project consultation to grow your agri-food business!

CRI is a leading food innovation research facility that specializes in nutritional and shelf-life testing for product development and validation.

Services include:

• nutritional labeling
• shelf-life testing
• bioextraction of plant materials
• batch and continuous fermentations
• analysis of proteins, fats and carbohydrates
• analysis of minerals (iron, calcium, etc.)

Funding up to $100,000 per eligible project is available. For a free project consultation, contact Andrew Kaszowski at a_kaszowski@fanshawec.ca

Learn more about their capabilities and successes: fanshawec.ca/research

Get Ready for Retail: R&D Support Available at George Brown College

The Food Innovation & Research Studio works with companies of all sizes to tackle food science challenges and get you ready for retail. FIRSt offers support in product development, optimization, shelf-life testing, nutritional analysis, consumer sensory feedback and much more from our lab at George Brown College in downtown Toronto. The team of food scientists, chefs, and industry professionals are ready to be your R&D experts.

Find out about who we are and what we do at our website!

Aiming to launch a new beverage product? Niagara College’s HACCP Certified Beverage Pilot Plant can help!

Niagara College helps you to be market-ready by focusing on getting the food safety and quality parameters right at the initial stages of development so you can prove your concept in the market, and be confident in your next steps of scaling to commercial co-packing/manufacturing. They de-risk the product launch process and plug in where you need support most by helping to:

• develop, reformulate, and initial scale-up new (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) beverage products
• provide GMP food safe small batch processing from 50 L to 1,000 L
• de-risk process and formula optimization through pilot trials and scale-up feasibility studies
• conduct food safety risk assessments, shelf-life studies, beverage formulation, mixing, carbonating, bottling/canning, and pasteurization
• ensure peace of mind by being HACCP Certified, CFIA Licenced under Safe Food for Canadians Act and Approved for Inter-provincial Trade, and AGCO compliant
• provide fee-for-service rates and funding options that can offset applied research project costs subject to eligibility criteria

Click here to contact Niagara College and get the conversation started!

Conestoga Food Research and Innovation Lab (CFRIL) is your partner in applied food research

With Conestoga College's research network integrating the expertise of their industry experts at the Institute of Food Processing Technology, School of Hospitality & Culinary Arts and Packaging Technology they offer support from concept to finished product. From our 8,000 sq ft pilot plant to culinary arts labs they can test at a scale that best suits your current business needs. Their pilot plant offers end-to-end beverage, retort, vegetable processing and bakery lines, along with vertical flow wrapping, tray sealing and vacuum sealing.

Reach out to Nicole Detlor at ndetlor@conestogac.on.ca to discuss how they can collaborate or check out their website to learn more about their capabilities.

Blog: Multimodel connections to Mexico for food & beverage products

There are two new ways to get food products to Mexico using intermodal. Both require truck-based access to US intermodal hubs using multimodal carriers operating in Ontario. Read our blog.