Food and beverage producers and processers in the province can now apply for the next round of Buy BC funding to help make it easier for British Columbians to identify and choose products that are made in B.C.

“The Buy BC program is helping business all over the province grow awareness, increase sales and reach new markets within B.C.,” said Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. “British Columbians know when they see the Buy BC logo, they can trust the high-quality product is from a local B.C. community and they are supporting their neighbour and the people dedicated to supplying local food and beverages to consumers in B.C.”

Buy BC is a provincewide marketing program focused on building greater consumer awareness, and demand and sales of local agriculture, food and beverage products. It is supported by several components, including Buy BC logo licensing, cost-shared funding for industry-led Buy BC marketing activities, retail partnerships, promotional activities and events, and a comprehensive marketing campaign.

Since the program was relaunched in 2018:

• more than 240 industry-led marketing projects have received Buy BC cost-shared funding; and
• more than 625 B.C. companies have been licensed to use the Buy BC logo.

One Buy BC funding recipient is Fraser Valley Specialty Poultry in Chilliwack, which offers specialty poultry to customers around the province, such as ready-to-eat duck products, goose, squab, Loong Kong chicken and chicken raised without the use of antibiotics. The funding is helping launch a marketing campaign with print, broadcast, digital ads and a variety of in-store marketing materials intended to increase sales and attract new customers in-store and through their online store.

“The Buy BC program allows our marketing ideas to go further than if we were funding them through our annual budget alone,” said Joe Falk, general manager, Fraser Valley Specialty Poultry. “It enables us to advertise with larger media outlets, to secure the local talent we need to get our message across, and to reach customers within our own province who are as passionate about local food as we are. The recognizability of the Buy BC logo gives credence to our work and what we stand for.”

Delta’s BCfresh also received Buy BC funding, which it used to launch and market its new BCfresh Berries brand this summer. The company also used the funding for digital and print ads promoting its Warba potatoes this past spring and is currently promoting its BCfresh Field to Fork campaign that highlights local farms and B.C.’s fall harvest.

“The Buy BC program continues to be an important tool to help educate customers about where their food is grown,” said Brian Faulkner, vice-president of business development and marketing, BCfresh. “We prominently display the logo on many of our retail packages and proudly seal every bag with a BCfresh/Buy BC Kwik Lok closure so consumers can quickly see they are buying something grown in B.C. on local family farms.”

The Buy BC Partnership Program is providing $2 million this year to help eligible applicants with their marketing efforts using the Buy BC logo on their products or promotional materials to help consumers easily identify their product as a B.C. product.

Businesses can apply for Buy BC funding from Oct. 26 until Nov. 18, 2021. The Province’s Buy BC Partnership Program is delivered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of British Columbia.

Learn More:

For application details, visit: https://iafbc.ca/buy-bc/

For more information about Buy BC: https://buybc.gov.bc.ca/

Buy BC promotional video: https://youtu.be/HEGqJ0aExhA

Info on the Buy BC: EAT DRINK LOCAL campaign, running Oct. 15 to Nov.15, 2021: https://buybc.gov.bc.ca/eat-drink-local

Fraser Valley Specialty Poultry: https://www.fvsp.ca/

BCfresh: https://bcfresh.ca/