e xperienCe e xCellenCe: onTario’s Food supplY proCessing, disTriBuTion & re Tailing

Ontario has one of the largest food and beverage manufacturing sectors in North America with manufacturing revenues of more than $48 billion. This sector has over 3,000 establishments in the province, employing more than 104,800 people, including global companies such as CocaCola, Nestle, Pepsico, Kellogg’s, Unilever and Kraft Heinz, and homegrown companies like Maple Leaf Foods, Dare Foods Limited and Weston Foods.

According to Invest Ontario, Ontario-based firms have access to superior, end-to-end supply chain solutions including processing, packaging, specialized storage and transportation, in addition to 3.6 million hectares of cropland growing over 230 agricultural commodities on 49,600 farms as of 2016. The province also boasts a concentration of academic institutions with specific expertise and infrastructure dedicated to agrifood and agritech research and development.

Ontario’s food and beverage sector is the 3rd largest in North America with annual sales totalling more than $48 billion. Ontario has access to 1.5 billion consumers across 51 countries through the free trade agreements.

Fabrizio Secco, Managing Director, Ferrero Canada Ltd stated, “Thanks to the continuous support of the Ontario government and to the strong commitment of the Ferrero Group, the Brantford production plant is taking another big step in our history. All these investments represent in an excellent way our industrial footprint, based on quality, innovation and efficiency. These projects are enabling us to create new jobs in our facility and also externally through our suppliers and partners within Brantford and the surrounding area. We are very proud to be the first Ferrero plant outside Europe to process raw cocoa beans and to produce the brand new Tic Tac Gum for North America!”

Thousands of food processing businesses are thriving in Ontario’s moderate, four-season environment, from big metropolises to our smallest rural towns. Ingredient producers, specialty importers and other value-added processors are some of Ontario’s food production resources. Additionally, the province is home to firms that provide critical services including analytical labs, specialty packaging, storage, and shipping.

More than 200 different ethnic backgrounds are represented in Ontario, and their diversity adds to the diversity of the goods produced here for export to international markets. The breadth and depth of knowledge and experience in the food business in Ontario are outstanding. Because of this, several major players in the global food business as well as upcoming stars in the future have invested in Ontario.

Thanks to Ontario’s expansive transportation network that includes 4 international and 300 regional airports, 250,000 km of roads and highways, a dozen border crossings and the 6th more internationally connected airport in the world, your products can reach the $20 trillion U.S. market. Ontario’s Food and Beverage manufacturers further benefit from trade agreements with 50 countries around the world, including CETA and CUSMA.