The governments of Canada and British Columbia are helping B.C. food and beverage companies serve and sell their products to the world through a $500,000 program to help them gain the research, knowledge and strategies they need to succeed in new markets.

B.C. agri-food and seafood products are increasingly being chosen as high-quality and trusted food products by consumers in B.C., throughout Canada and around the world, but many smaller B.C. companies need help to plan and prepare to expand to new markets. The new B.C. Agrifood and Seafood Market Development Preparedness Program supports:

• Conducting or purchasing market intelligence studies to help applicants understand the competitive environment and potential opportunities in domestic or international markets.
• Developing long-term strategic marketing plans for domestic or international markets.
• Completing eligible marketing skills training courses at qualified educational institutions.

The program will cover 75% of eligible expenses, while the applicants will be responsible for the remaining 25%. The half-million dollar program will run until March 2018 and complete applications will be considered as received. Application packages and more information are available at: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content?id=83E740903BE04ADCBB9F8C50303B1E71

B.C. agri-food and seafood exports reached a record $3 billion in 2014. Expanding domestic and international markets for B.C. agri-food and seafood products is one of the key priorities of the BC Agrifood and Seafood Strategic Growth Plan to grow B.C.’s agri-food and seafood sector into a $15-billion-a-year industry by 2020.

This investment in the BC Agrifood and Seafood Market Development Preparedness Program is part of the federal government’s plan to help the agri-food sector be a leader in job creation and innovation.

The program is funded under Growing Forward 2, a five-year agreement that provides a $3-billion, federal-provincial-territorial government investment in innovation, competitiveness and market development.