Recap: Sprouting New Connections: Scaling Up!

Sprouting New Connections: Scaling Up!
A speaker series for small agri-food businesses looking to scale up.

On October 19th, the SDG, Cornwall and Akwesasne Food and Agricultural Advisory Council, a new working group of All Things Food|Bouffe360°, hosted a half-day speaker series featuring resources and information for small-scale producers and agri-food businesses looking to “scale-up”.

This event was hosted in close partnership with the Social Development Council of Cornwall and Area, Cornwall and the Counties Community Futures Development Corporation, and the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry,

Topics included:

  • innovation and the value of a shared economy,
  • delivery/distribution,
  • health and safety requirements,
  • labelling and food traceability, and
  • key resources in our area.
The series concluded with an interactive Q&A panel of local business owners with lived experience scaling up their business to meet emerging markets.

Looking for more information?  Explore the presentation briefs, slides, and additional resource links below.

What are people saying about this event?

We included a quick survey following the event.  The results were very positive! Click here to read a summary of the feedback. Make sure to stay tuned as this feedback will be considered as we work towards hosting more professional development opportunities and events to our region.

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Traceability and Product Identification
Alex Heim – OMAFRA – Food and Traceability Officer

Alex Heim joined us from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) to outline the many provincial regulations, expectation, and resources available for food traceability and labelling.

His slides include regulatory details for multiple sectors, useful links, and online tools.

 

Download Presentation Slides.

Key Resources from OMAFRA:

GS1 Resource:

Food Safety for Small Businesses and Events
Clothilde Howieson – Eastern Ontario Health Unit, Senior Public Health Inspector

Clothilde Howieson is an expert on safe food handling, food premises requirements and inspections, and EOHU expectations for special events and food. She shared an overview of the basics, and then took event attendees into the commercial kitchen of the Long Sault Community Centre to address specific questions and expectations for safe food processing at home or in public spaces.

Her presentation slides include the need to know facts about food safety; a description of provincial, EOHU, and municipal legislation; and links to the online tools and forms required for special events.

For more food safety information or to reach a Public Health Inspector, call one of the two main offices:

Cornwall:  Telephone: 613-933-1375 or 1-800-267-7120

Casselman: Telephone: 613-764-2841 or 1-800-267-8260

Key Resources Available from the EOHU:

For additional special event planning templates click here to Download bilingual resources.

Expanding Market Access to Local Food Through Shared Delivery
Marcia Woods – FreshSpoke, CEO

 

Marcia Woods dazzled the audience with her presentation of FreshSpoke, a new game-changing platform that provides a direct purchase and delivery pipeline between commercial buyers and local food producers using an innovative shared commercial delivery system. Having just expanded their business model into Eastern Ontario, this was a first look at how this new product will revolutionize our local food system using a “shared economy” system.

Download Presentation Slides. 

Key Resources Available from the FreshSpoke:

Eastern Ontario Regional Contact: Shane Dyer – shane@freshspoke.com

 

Panel Discussion – Experiences from the Trenches

  • Josh Biemond, Upper Canada Creamery

  • Ron Brennan, Old 4th Hop Yard

  • Stephen Burgess, Cedarcroft Honey from the Glen

  • Julia Graham, Quirky Carrot

  • James Loucks, The Community Market

  • Bob Hogg, Homestead Organics

  • Marc Renaud, Farmboy

  • Shelley Spruit, Against the Grain Farms

For full biographies on the panelists, please click here.

Discussion Highlights and Key Recommendations Download Here.

 

Local Funding for Small Businesses: Did you know?

 

 

Media Coverage:

Standard Freeholder: Long Sault workshop about bringing local food into the sharing economy.  Written by Todd Hambleton, October 20, 2017.

The AgriNews: Sprouting new connections for new Agriculture Advisory Council and a feature on the event’s keynote speaker FreshSpoke to help champion local food in Eastern Ontario. Written by Kalynn Sawyer Helmer, November 2017 issue.

 

Thank you to our event sponsors and partners!

 

Photos courtesy of Gina Dragone. All presentation materials are the property of their respective owners. Please contact info@allthingsfoodbouff360.ca to request the use of any specific content.

 

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