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Securing and strengthening Canada’s food supply chain

Capacity Building
CAPACITY BUILDING PRIORITY

Data and ICT Management

PROJECT TIMELINE
May 2021 to March 2023
PROJECT STATUS
Fund I: Complete
TOTAL INVESTMENT
$2,663,599

Consortia Contribution
$533,798

Cluster Contribution
$2,129,801

PARTNERS

The McGill Centre for the Convergence of Health and Economics

Bivizio Inc.
British Columbia Food and Beverage
Conseil de la transformation alimentaire du Québec (CTAQ)
Food and Beverage Atlantic
Food and Beverage Canada
Food and Beverage Manitoba
Food and Beverage Ontario
University of Ottawa

Goal

Create a national platform that connects local/provincial tools to enable businesses and organizations that comprise Canada’s food system, including the plant protein segment, to connect locally, provincially and nationally to address supply chain challenges, find domestic solutions to disruptions, collaborate to innovate across the value chain and increase the resilience and value of the sectors involved.

Project Summary

The project consisted of building food and beverage supply chain digital platforms in each province, hosted by each of the provincial food and beverage associations and linked together at the national level.

The platforms will be populated with information collected through internet scraping and other sources and industry data from the provincial associations themselves. The associations will host the platform and each will decide on the ultimate functionality of their hub and access privileges, with the ability to manage access for association members and other industry actors.

The provincial digital platforms were based on a platform developed for CTAQ by Quebec company Bivizio and currently in use in Quebec called SNAC (Système Numérique Alimentaire Collaboratif), and that has evolved with added functionality to respond to the emergence of supply-chain disruptions due to COVID-19.

Results and Impact

  • The development of the MIXR platform is expected to enhance connectivity, improve competitiveness and access to information, consolidate supply chains, and create international commercial opportunities for industry stakeholders, including SMEs, food and beverage organizations and academic institutions.
  • McGill Centre for the Convergence of Health and Economics sees the platform as a competitive advantage for themselves and other Canadian business schools. It has enabled British Columbia Food and Beverage to create new business opportunities, resources, grants and collaborative partnerships.
  • McGill University has gained insight into market dynamics and the role of digital connectivity in the agri-food sector. Bivizio sees the project as an accelerator and commercial showcase for their digital platform, and Food and Beverage Atlantic believes the MIXR platform will save time and help members grow and scale faster.
  • Food and Beverage Manitoba has found the platform useful in recruiting new members and strengthening ties between food and beverage associations.
  • The University of Ottawa has increased their capacity and formed valuable relationships for future research and engagement.

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