Saskatchewan’s agri-food industry celebrated the grand opening of the new Agri-Food Innovation Centre (AFIC), a 43,000-square foot facility that will diversify the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre’s (Food Centre) capacity to develop and process products from concept to commercialization.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, on behalf of Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains, and Premier Brad Wall joined representatives of the Food Centre in officially opening the $17.5 million facility in Saskatoon.
The Food Centre is the primary source of food product development and commercialization for the Saskatchewan food industry. The creation of the AFIC supports the expansion of Saskatchewan’s agri-food processing sector and introduces a dedicated multi-tenant food processing incubator, extrusion line, expanded drying capabilities and fermentation technologies. It will also house new labs, a pilot plant for product and process development, and expanded capacity for pulse and cereal processing. The Food Centre will continue to operate the federally inspected pilot plant housed on the University of Saskatchewan campus.
Saskatchewan’s value-added food processing sector has grown tremendously in the last decade and now includes 300 companies that export $4 billion worth of goods annually and employ 5,000 people.
Construction of the AFIC was made possible with $9 million through Growing Forward 2, the federal-provincial agricultural policy framework, and $4.35 million from Western Economic Diversification Canada. Additional support came from SaskPulse, SaskCanola and other industry organizations and the Food Centre’s capital reserve. Since its inception in 1997 as a not-for-profit organization, the Food Centre has worked with clients representing various sectors of the food industry and developed more than 800 products.
More than 300 food processing companies in Saskatchewan produce a wide range of cereal, meat, dairy and bakery products, and food ingredients. These processors ship goods valued at approximately $4.3 billion annually.