Food industry under microscope in new study

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This article was published 28/07/2022 (1306 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Community Futures and Food and Beverage Manitoba want to hear what’s working — and what isn’t — in the food industry.

In a series of food ecosystems asset mapping sessions, the aim is to find out what small- and medium-sized producers need to survive and thrive — and where the gaps are, said Katie Daman, Community Futures Manitoba’s manager of the Food Ecosystems Project.

“We see this as being especially important following COVID, when we’ve seen both an increased demand for local food, but at the same time we’ve seen challenges,” she said, including with inflation, packaging and climate disruption.

The sessions are meant to bring together a wide range of people, including business owners, members of the community and others in the industry, she said.

The project is about listening to people in the food industry to find out what works well, which resources are helpful and where the gaps in support are. It’s about helping to stabilize the industry post-pandemic and give it a boost going forward, she said.

“This project is meant to look at what’s out there and speak to people about what they think is missing, what’s really going to strengthen and support this industry so we can have a strong food and agriculture industry in Manitoba for everyone.”

While there is plenty of support for producers who want to export their product, Daman said the aim is to also support producers and processors who want to sell to a local market, like Winnipeg or another province.

“We don’t want to duplicate what people are already doing, we want to complement and enhance the existing services.”

Small- and medium-sized producers are the “heart” of the food industry, said Sarah Schwendemann, the director of operations and strategic partnerships at Food and Beverage Manitoba. While there are many new products being developed by smaller companies, red tape can make it hard for smaller players to break into the market.

“There’s just so many additional barriers to those companies that it’s important to recognize that and help tackle that,” she said.

The plan is to prepare a “state of the eco-ecosystem” report on the findings next spring, which will be used to inform training with Food and Beverage Manitoba and make recommendations to the province.

Agriculture and the food industry can be challenging, but the aim is to make it easier, Daman said. They are important both in supplying the country with food, and in adjusting to changes in the industry.

“If we want to encourage small- to mid-sized farms or family-owned farms in the province, there needs to be a little bit more ease into that industry and there needs to be more stability for farmers to access the markets.”

The whole point of the project is to make sure there is a thorough understanding of what food infrastructure is available in Manitoba to help supplement and fill in the gaps, she said.

“There’s so many subsets of the food industry … all the way to meat processing to artisan vodka distilling, so it looks a little different for each subset of the industry,” she said.

“Everybody has a relationship with food and I think all of our cultural and human identities are tied to food in so many ways. These asset mapping sessions are a great way to come together … and help inform how our province is moving forward.”

There are two sessions scheduled for Aug. 9 in Brandon — one at 9 a.m. at Seniors for Seniors and one at 5 p.m. at the Riverbank Discovery Centre. Another session is planned for Neepawa on Aug. 10 at 9:30 a.m. at ArtsForward.

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