Food Processing

WATERLOO REGION’S SOPHISTICATED AND LEADING FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

Waterloo Region’s long history in food production began in the early 1800’s with early founding Mennonite farmers and a focus on agriculture. This tradition continues today with over 1400 farms grossing an average of $1,751 in farm receipts per acre – a number 2.25 times higher than the provincial average, a strong food processing cluster with over 100 successful processors and distributors, and a new Institute for Food Processing Technology at Conestoga College. In fact, the Waterloo-Guelph-Toronto corridor is the largest food manufacturing region in Canada and the third largest in North America.

THE CANADIAN AGRICULTURE AND AGRI-FOOD SECTOR FIGURES, 2008

• $99 billion—The agriculture and agri-food sector accounted for 8.1 per cent of total GDP.
• $2.2 million people—The sector provided 1 in 8 jobs in Canada.
• $38.8 billion—Canada is one of the leading agriculture and agri-food exporters in the world, accounting for 5.5 per cent of total world agriculture and agri-food exports.

(Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2009.)
 

LEADING COMPANIES IN WATERLOO REGION

• Schneider-Maple Leaf Foods - Kitchener meat processinf since 1886 and inventor of the official Oktoberfest Sausage
• Dare Foods – Family owned since 1892
• Frito Lay – One of North America's largest snack food companies
• Weston Bakeries – Variety of fresh fresh, frozen frozen and specialty bakery products
• Pillers Sausages & Delicatessens – A 1957 butcher shop that evolved into one of North America's Largest  producers of sausages and deli meats
• Elmira Poultry – One of Canada's largest meat suppliers since 1985
• Tamming Foods LTD. – Sugar wafer products
• Delft Blue Inc. – Milk fed veal supplier and meat packer, fresh case ready milk and grain fed veal
• DC Food Processing – Packer, private label batter, breaded chicken, fish, veal and cheese

WHY WATERLOO? TALENT

• Skilled and talented workforce of 282,300 (2010)
• $19.5 billion GDP, with a 5.8% increase from 2009 to 2010 (2010)
• Canada’s second most manufacturing intensive economy; 20% of our employed population (2008)
• Canada’s 10th and Ontario’s 4th largest urban area (2010)
• One of Canada’s fastest growing communities, with a population of 543,700 people that is projected to reach 729,000 people by 2031
• 74,000 full-time post-secondary students, including 15,000 co-operative education students
• University of Waterloo’s Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (including the Agri-Food for Healthy Aging [A-HA] initiative)
• Conestoga College’s Institute for Food Processing Technology
• Close proximity to the University of Guelph, a leading agri-food research institution

REASONS TO INVEST IN ONTARIO

• 2,500 agri-food companies
• 110,000 people work directly in agri-food processing and another 100,000 work in directly related sectors
• More than 500 R&D food experts working in universities or research institutes
• The Agri-food Sector is Ontario’s Leading Employer, employing approximately 600,000 people
• Nearly $34 billion in manufacturing revenue

REASONS TO INVEST IN CANADA

• World’s soundest banking system (World Economic Forum)
• Fastest projected growth among the G7 for 2011
• Lowest new business taxes investment taxes in the G7
• Highest proportion of post-secondary graduates in the OECD

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