The opportunity EDC sees in Canadian companies and their export potential

As companies across Canada’s ingredient manufacturing, food processing and bioproducts sector grow and innovate, one of their most oft-cited challenges is securing investment. Interest in the sector is growing among private and government investors, but finding the right agency willing to commit funds at the right time isn’t necessarily easy.

For some entrepreneurs, the answer may be to focus on agencies that specialize in investing in companies at certain stages in their growth journey. One such investor is Export Development Canada (EDC). As its name implies, EDC is focused on supporting Canadian entrepreneurs wanting to export their products and expand into markets around the globe, through investment, financing, insurance, knowledge transfer and on-the-ground expertise.

“Our food strategy builds on our efforts to make Canada a global leader in sustainable, high-quality agri-production, and then we work on ensuring growth in both domestic and international markets,” EDC’s Director Global Agri-Food, Sectors and International Advisory Ashley Kanary said. “Our plan and our goal are to make Canada a top global exporter of agrifood products, through innovation, automation, market expansion and then sustainability.”

With EDC focusing its business support into three core pillars—private label products, seafood and innovation—there’s plenty of room for companies across Canada’s ingredient manufacturing, food processing and bioproducts sector to find their fit with the organization’s supports. In particular, EDC has increased its capital support into the scale-up of private label manufacturing companies in Canada. At the same time, they’ve seen an increase in interest in Canada’s value-added ingredients internationally, which the organization is working to support.

“Where the plant-based sector is maybe slowing down a little bit in North America, it has accelerated in places like Europe and the Middle East and a bit in the Indo-Pacific,” EDC’s Global Trade Director, Agri-Food, Jay Albers said. “So even though there has been news over the past years that the plant-based sector is slowing down, it has also established itself in new markets and there is that opportunity to grow.”

The potential benefits of this opportunity are rippling throughout the sector. Kanary and Albers agreed that the diversification of agrifood will help de-risk Canada’s commodity sector, while providing farmers with new opportunities to sell their products closer to home. At the same time, the value being added to the crops throughout the processing journey will open new markets and provide a higher price for the product.

This, in turn, attracts the interest of investors.

“I would say that our appetite is there,” Kanary said.

Albers agreed, adding, “The best way to grow that is to provide a good industry to attract [investors]. Have those opportunities be developed so they see the opportunity that there is to grow in Canada and grow the sector and you know the return on investment that the sector provides.”

Visit the link below for more information about EDC, including the programs they have available to companies across the ingredient manufacturing, food processing and bioproducts sector: