Investment made to get more Ontario food onto Ontario forks

Teeswater., Ont. -

The provincial Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Lisa Thompson, stood outside the Gay-Lea Creamery in Teeswater on Monday, to announce a multi-million dollar investment in Ontario’s food processing sector.

“We are introducing this program this fall, so people have a chance to re-evaluate their business plans and determine how they want to grow forward,” said Thompson.

The province is offering up $25 million over the next three years as part of the Strategic Agri-Food Processing Fund, to help Ontario food processors expand, innovate and grow.

“Throughout the pandemic there have been all kinds of limitations and obstacles that have limited our business, and we want to be able to continue to grow and prosper here in Ontario. So, this will be a great avenue we can now access,” said Rob Goodwill, chair of Gay-Lea, a farmer owner and operator dairy co-operative, with a plant in Teeswater.

While there were few empty grocery story shelves during the pandemic in Ontario, Thompson says the government wants to ensure the path of food from fields to forks is easier, simpler, and quicker than ever. Adding and retaining jobs in Ontario is an added bonus.

“They could be small, medium or large projects. It’s about the viability of the business plan that they submit that is most important,” said Thompson.

Ontario exports billions of dollars worth of food and food products around the globe each year. That’s not going to change, but having the ability to process more Ontario-grown food within Ontario, will be important for local sustainability in the years to come.

“Otherwise, the value added is being done somewhere else and we’re subject to the type of supply chain issues and other disruptions that occur,” explained Chris Conway, CEO of Food and Beverage Ontario, who was also on hand for Monday’s announcement. “So, it’s great if we can do this locally.”

Ontario’s Strategic Agri-Food Processing Fund will start accepting submissions early in 2022.