Canada’s leading food and beverage processing associations come together to invest in national food supply chain platform
Ottawa, Ontario – August 10, 2021 – Today, members of a national food industry consortium celebrate the launch of the Food Convergence Innovation (FCI) Canada – Food and Beverage Supply Chain Project (FCI-Canada Project), a national, sector-wide platform that will link Canada’s food and beverage supply chain by allowing companies to post and search for specific products, services and partners within given geographic parameters.
Under the project, Canada’s leading food and beverage manufacturing associations will build provincial and regional databases that will then be connected into a national network. This project builds on the Conseil de la transformation ailmentaire du Quebec (CTAQ)’s existing Systeme numerique alimentaire collaboratif (SNAC) platform, developed by Bivizio and currently in use in Quebec, as well as data science work conducted at the University of Ottawa.
Members of the national consortium include Food and Beverage Canada, CTAQ, Food & Beverage Atlantic, Food and Beverage Ontario, Food & Beverage Manitoba, BC Food & Beverage, Bivizio, Protein Industries Canada and the University of Ottawa. The FCI-Canada Project will be led by McGill Centre for the Convergence of Health and Economics.
“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 and responding to external pressures such as we saw during the pandemic”, said Kathleen Sullivan, CEO of Food and Beverage Canada.
“CTAQ is proud that its SNAC platform is now deployed on a national scale. 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. “This platform 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.”
“The safe and productive operation of any one food processing plant depends on the contributions of hundreds or even thousands of suppliers and service providers, all of whom are critical in bringing food and beverage products to the tables of Canadians,” said Chris Conway, CEO Food and Beverage Ontario. “A platform that serves to easily connect each of these players will benefit industry and help ensure the smooth functioning of Canada’s food system.”
If you are a Canadian company looking to find out more, or you are interested in joining the database, please click here.
Media contact:
Kristina Proulx
Director of Communications, Food and Beverage Canada
kproulx@tsa.ca
613-322-9235