Delta Chamber of Commerce

Farm Gate to Consumer Plate

Delta Chamber of Commerce luncheon, February 25, 2010

Farming, food processing and food retailing are major sectors or links in the food chain at home and abroad with important links to Delta, BC, where food is big business. This business is under the combined threat from many challenges. Yet it is adapting and re-inventing itself. It is a major example of sustainability which begins here in Delta.

To honour farming and the food sector, as one of its founding industries in 1910 – in celebration of its 100th Anniversary — the Delta Chamber of Commerce is pleased to present a special luncheon event on Thursday, February 25: “Farm Gate to Consumer Plate: The Food Chain Business in Delta.” The event is sponsored by Cloverdale Cold Storage Ltd.

The presentation will feature a panel of business leaders in the food chain sector, including Murray Driediger, President and CEO of BC Fresh, a group of local food growers, Travis Drew, Manager of Lucerne Foods processing plant in Abbotsford, which distributes frozen foods throughout North America, and Andy Carter, General Manager of Thrifty Foods, part of a national food retailing business. For more information >>click here>>.

Over 40,000 tons of combined sales of root vegetables sold by BC Fresh (60% of its total sales) come from Delta every year. These sales are part of the $100-million local farming industry. Potatoes, rutabagas, carrots, turnips, cabbage, beets, squash and parsnips come from the 32 wholly owned and operated BC growers in Delta and throughout the Lower Mainland who make up BC Fresh, with warehousing and head office in Delta.

Consumers are interested in eating locally grown food, but are they passionate enough to demand it? Retailers are supportive, but are they fully committed? Aside from consumer demand and the viability of business in retail sales, there is the challenge of land, its supply, some would argue the gradual loss to industrial use and the rising cost as supply diminishes. Other challenges include the increasing burden of maintaining high standards of food safety in Canada, water supply and the cost of water, and the decreasing availability of food processors.

Lucerne Foods is a food processor and manufacturer which supplies Safeway and other food retailers throughout Canada, the United States and many other regions of the world. At its regional processing plant in Abbotsford,  Lucerne processes and distributes beans, raspberries, blueberries and other foods, such as the varieties of root vegetables grown in Delta, in stages of blanching, inspection, freezing and quality control, connecting growers to customers.

Food grown in Delta is a major source of supply for Lucerne Foods. Delta is located  close to local markets and to distribution systems for world trade. The weather here is ideal for growing and for meeting national quality standards. But Lucerne sees the same basic challenges as BC Fresh, in terms of diminishing supply and cost of farm land, cost of meeting increasing standards of food safety and quality and supply and cost of water. All the while consumers want lower costs for their food.

With increasing challenges, the food growers and processors more than ever need to work together in a collaborative relationship to conduct research and learn new ways to adapt, meet the changing demands of the marketplace, introduce new technology and systems and find new markets.

Restaurants, institutions, other food processors and retail food chains are all customers of food growers and, in turn, food processors. Thrifty Foods, which has a store in Tsawwassen, is an example of a BC company which plays a key role in the food chain, which forms an important link to Delta. Founded on Vancouver Island in 1977, Thrifty Foods grew into a multi-million-dollar business of 20 stores. After 30 years, in 2007, it joined an even larger network, the national grocery retailer, Sobeys Inc. Sobeys, in turn, is owned by Empire Company Limited of Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Sobeys owns or franchises more than 1,300 grocery stores in all 10 provinces under retail banners that include Sobeys, IGA, Foodland and Price Chopper.

For more information, please contact the Delta Chamber of Commerce, at admin@deltachamber.ca or 604-946-4232.