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.

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.

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.

SickKids Buy Local Initiative, Toronto $50,000

The Hospital for Sick Children built a network of local suppliers focused on local and sustainable farming to source ingredients for new, seasonably based recipes and menus. Foodservice staff were trained on the new recipes as well as on the benefits of eating locally sourced food. Promotional materials to advertise local food to the broader SickKids community were also developed with the aim of generating excitement and interest among cafeteria customers.

University Growth, Listowel $50,000

Harmony Organic developed a number of tools to educate university students and the general public on the benefits of organic milk products. Videographers were sent to producers’ farms to produce educational videos for upload onto YouTube, Facebook, and the Harmony Organic’s website. Demonstrations of Harmony’s products were conducted at George Brown and Seneca Colleges, and at the Hospital for Sick Children.

GFS Tipping Point, Milton $257,524

Gordon Food Service (GFS) created a regional distribution system with Fresh Start Foods (FSF) to double their local food sales by 2016. FSF has three depots in London, Milton, and Ottawa that act as regional hubs. GFS Ontario developed new supply logistics procedures to enable all GFS Ontario and FSF customers to have access to regional foods through these hubs and through GFS Ontario food listings. GFS launched a comprehensive new IT and social media platform, making it easier for both GFS and Fresh Start Foods customers and sales reps to readily find Ontario items.