Collaboratively securing Canada’s food supply chain

From a healthier environment to a stronger economy, expanding Canada’s domestic processing and manufacturing capacity comes with plenty of domestic benefits. One of the most significant, however, is a boost to the security of our food supply chain.

The truth behind this was no more apparent than during the COVID-19 pandemic. As borders closed and companies here at home scrambled to meet demand, the plant-based value chain became keenly aware of the combined opportunity and necessity that was unfurling. Achieving both, however, requires a collaborative, strategic approach.

“Creating a linkage and collaboration across the value chain is so valuable because without these connections we might not know a supplier exists,” Big Mountain Foods Ltd. President Jasmine Byrne said. “Linking the value chain allows for manufacturers to keep their ingredients sourced in Canada.”

Collaborating in this way can come with a variety of other benefits, as well. Farm Credit Canada’s Canada Director of Industry and Stakeholder Relations, Marty Seymour, said one of the most important is the way a partnership pushes each side to learn from the other. This sort of skill-building aligns well with Farm Credit Canada’s mandate, which includes enabling companies along the value chain to grow and scale through the advancement of business skills.

“So, once again, celebrating them for their innovation, but finding partnerships for the skill-gap that they don’t have—maybe that’s scaling, maybe that’s access to manufacturing, maybe that’s just understanding how to write a marketing plan,” Seymour said.

However, partnering to advance these skills will only go so far without collaboration on a larger scale.

By working along the value chain to build collaboration, Seymour said the sector can also increase transparency and achieve greater efficiency, without sacrificing food safety or supply. Doing so, however, will also require increased capital within the sector.

“Are we attracting early-stage investment, is probably the biggest gap for me,” Seymour said. “How do we help companies that have an idea, or IP, and get them the right financing tool to bridge the gap until they’re scalable or where they have some sales? That space between concept or early R&D to where you actually have customers or selling stuff can be a long time or it can be a short period of time, and I would say that, if you look at it through the lens of finances, that’s the gap in industry. There’s a role for government in it, definitely a role for private sector and a role for Farm Credit Canada.”

Together, companies along Canada’s plant-based food, feed and ingredients chain have already seen some success in growing their sector while securing Canada’s food supply. With continued collaborative work, this success can be expanded to build further processing and manufacturing capacity, helping bring safe, healthy food to consumers across Canada.