Canada’s leading food and beverage manufacturing associations have taken the lead to come together to invest in a national food supply chain platform
Ottawa, Ontario – March 29, 2023 – Today, members of a national food industry consortium celebrate the launch of MiXR, a gateway to a national digital platform that will increase collaboration and trade for thousands of food and beverage manufacturers across Canada.
“Innovative and intuitive, MiXR is just what Canada needs to build the connections necessary for a strong, resilient, and growing food and beverage ecosystem,” explains Kristina Farrell, Executive Director (Interim) of Food and Beverage Canada, a consortium partner. “With the ability to connect potential partners locally, provincially, and nationally, the platform will serve as a way to increase collaboration within the food and beverage industry”.
MiXR was made possible through the Food Convergence Innovation (FCI) Canada – Food and Beverage Supply Chain Project (FCI-Canada Project), a national, sector-wide platform co-invested with Protein Industries Canada. The project, launched in August 2021, has linked provincial and regional databases of Canada’s leading food and beverage manufacturing associations into a national network. The FCI-Canada Project was led by the McGill Centre for the Convergence of Health and Economics (MCCHE). Members of the national consortium also include Food and Beverage Canada, Food & Beverage Atlantic, Conseil de la Transformation Ailmentaire du Quebec (CTAQ), Food and Beverage Ontario, Food & Beverage Manitoba, Prairie FoodLinks, Alberta Food Processing Association, BC Food & Beverage, technology partner Bivizio, the University of Ottawa and Protein Industries Canada, which has provided financial support through its Capacity Building program. The data integration infrastructure between the MIXR platform and the members of the national consortium is implemented by Logiciel Plannica, a McGill University-based technology start-up.
MiXR builds on CTAQ’s existing Système Numerique Alimentaire Collaboratif (SNAC) platform, developed by Bivizio and currently connecting more than 2000 businesses in Quebec, as well as data science work conducted at the University of Ottawa. MiXR seamlessly connects Canada’s food and beverage supply chain by allowing companies to post and search for specific products, services and partners within given geographic parameters. It will serve as a foundation for enhanced trade, traceability and accelerated integration of Canada’s strengths in plant protein production and food and beverage manufacturing.
“We believe this platform will provide Canada’s almost 8,000 food and beverage manufacturers with a new tool to conveniently identify suppliers and vendors, assisting industry in better coordinating the country’s national food supply chain, accelerating innovation, better positioning our strengths in plant protein production in the global market, and responding to external pressures such as we saw during the pandemic”, said Bill Greuel, CEO of Protein Industries Canada.”
“McGill University and MCCHE are proud to have played a leading role in the development of MiXR by contributing our strengths in multidisciplinary research, innovation and collaboration,” said Dr. Yolande Chan, Dean of the McGill Desautels Faculty of Management. “As we work together with our partners to transform this country’s food and beverage industry, this platform is a step towards achieving a more sustainable and food-secure future.”
“In Atlantic Canada, four provincial borders often make it difficult to find suppliers within our regional ecosystem. This tool will create opportunities for collaboration and partnerships.” says Tammy Brideau, Executive Director of Food & Beverage Atlantic. “This B2B platform will connect companies integrated in the food and beverage processing ecosystem. It’s a real game changer and significant gift for our industry.”
“The Canadian food industry is taking a new step forward by initiating a tool that enables connectivity between the actors of the value chain,” said Sylvie Cloutier, President and CEO of CTAQ. “Expanding on SNAC to establish a national platform through MiXR will contribute to Canada’s food security, the diversification of our food supply, will promote circular economy and the creation of new business opportunities between our companies.”
If you are a Canadian company looking to find out more, or you are interested in joining the digital platform please click here.
Media contact:
Kristina Farrell
Interim Executive Director, Food and Beverage Canada kristina.farrell@fbc-abc.com