Increasing the Procurement of Local Foods, London $25,325

The University of Western University established a baseline of their annual Ontario food purchases and has set targets for an annual growth rate of Ontario food purchases of 3 percent each year for the next five years. The University developed a strategy to increase their local purchases that included identifying supplier partners that can provide them with locally grown food, working with existing suppliers to identify new opportunities to expand their local purchases, and purchasing an integrated computer software program that would enable them to track local purchases moving forward. They also developed and ran educational and awareness campaigns to increase interest in local food among students and staff such as Chef’s Table events that feature local products, and themed menus.

Serving Local Ontario Food in East Toronto, Toronto $20,000

Toronto East General Hospital developed and tested new recipes using local ingredients for patients as well as customers of their retail café. The chef worked with their primary distributor to source more local food. The project involved the creation and promotion of cafeteria feature meals/menu items and patient menu items that showcased Ontario foods. They also developed a local procurement policy, provided on-site staff training, and developed marketing materials to promote Ontario food to patients, hospital staff, volunteers, and visitors.

Grown in Ontario, Mississauga $35,000

Sysco Ontario created more opportunities for the sale of locally produced products to public sector institutions by improving their internal ordering systems to identify and track local products. They also developed partnerships with suppliers that can offer them more Ontario products. They will develop marketing materials to promote Ontario products and provide educational sessions for staff and customers on the local foods available through Sysco Ontario.

Identify, Source and Promote the Sale of Ontario Food Products, London $150,000

Summit Food Service implemented a new IT system that highlights local food in product guides, invoices, and sales reports. Both customers and sales representatives have been given the ability to run their own reports to quantify and analyze all Ontario food purchases. Summit also designed and ran an advertising program, Embrace Ontario, to promote sales of Ontario food to customers. Components of this included a monthly Ontario produce availability page, Ontario food listings, a monthly Ontario food feature article, and monthly-featured recipes.

Creating Local Food Entrée Options for Healthcare, Brantford $65,000

St. Joseph’s Health System, Group Purchasing Organization (SJHS-GPO) conducted a project that helped hospitals increase their local food purchasing in three new ways: (i) demonstrating that menu items made from scratch using local ingredients can work with reheating food ovens (re-therm); (ii) working with the local food value chain to create new ready-made local food entrées for re-therm; and, (iii) creating a new product category for fresh, minimally processed products in their contracting process. St. Joseph’s has been successful in creating and testing 50 new local food entrée options, including the nutritional information with their new recipes. To promote local food, the GPO developed outreach materials and a coaching program to support re-therm clients in using the new local food options.

Ottawa Local Food Hub Project, Ottawa $24,998

A food processing company, Signature Foods has taken advantage of their existing infrastructure in order to foster the creation of a local food hub in Ottawa. Partnered with Just Food, they were able to build on the interest and commitment of public institutions generated in Just Food’s previous BPS project. Signature Foods contracted the Business Development Bank of Canada to conduct a full analysis of its Information and Communications Technology (ICT) systems to identify gaps and opportunities to create efficiencies for the food hub. They also developed a communication strategy and promotional materials, and met with larger distributors to investigate partnership opportunities. Just Food created training resources for producers to help them scale up production to supply the wholesale market.

Developing a Value Chain for Local Food with the Broader Public Sector in Northwestern Ontario, Emo $20,000

Rainy River District Regional Abattoir Inc. (RRDRAI) lead a partnership of five parties (RRDRAI, Rainy River Meats, Sunrise Meats and Sausage, Clover Valley Farmers’ Market, and Riverside Health Care Facilities) with the goal of increasing sales of quality local meat and vegetables produced in the Rainy River district to the broader public sector. The Abattoir and partners organized and developed a specific meat product line for sale to BPS institutions. Due to the short time period involved in the project, and the numerous roadblocks and challenges faced by the partnership, there is still work to be done in the future. The value of this project has been in beginning to resolve many of these barriers.

Growing Ontario Apple Products in Public Institutions, Kitchener $35,000

Working in close collaboration with the Ontario Apple Growers, My Sustainable Canada identified market opportunities within the broader public sector for Ontario’s apple growers. They also produced marketing materials for Ontario apples, their products, and their use in BPS institutions. My Sustainable Canada also explored new partnerships (i) between apple packers and schools to promote Martin’s apple chips, (ii) between apple processors and healthcare institutions to reintroduce apple purees to their product line for hospitals, and (iii) between the apple industry and foodservice distributors and operators to promote the sale of Ontario apple products over products.

Ontario Grass Roots Program Systems Upgrade, Oldcastle $96,104

Morton Wholesale worked to increase the amount and diversity of Ontario products they offer through a combination of changes to their operating systems and staff responsibilities. Morton trained a specialized buyer that focused on the purchasing of Ontario food, which led to the addition of 25 new products on Morton’s product list. They launched the third stage of their Ontario Grass Roots Program, which now includes more than 1,800 Ontario products.

frescoServe Ontario on the Menu, Oakville $119,300

Marek Hospitality Inc. provided hospitals with freshly prepared and locally sourced meals through their existing retail operations. Marek worked with their distributor Stewart Foodservice to track sales and purchases and trace the point of origin of the food on their menus. Marek identified that 30 percent of the 28 new recipes in the frescoServe handbook use Ontario-sourced product. With this knowledge, Marek substituted non-Ontario ingredients with a locally sourced product.