When Alphonsus Utioh decided to come to Manitoba and work at the Food Development Centre 20 years ago, the young chemical engineer was attracted by a chance to do research that would result in more than published papers.
“I saw this as more practical. You could actually see what you do and work with people, with entrepreneurs with ideas, and see them take their ideas and start businesses. It’s very satisfying for a researcher,” says Utioh, today manager of process and development at FDC.
He’s referring to the day-by-day interaction he and the FDC’s staff continuously have with each other and with the centre’s clients as they go about their jobs to create new ingredients and products, from oat pastas and yeast-free breads, to lentil energy bars and maize flour.
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It’s exciting and purposeful work, work done with a team approach, said Utioh. “We have a team that recognizes that it’s not an individual who creates a food product,” he said.
Today the FDC team numbers 30 who bring together a broad range of technical and scientific expertise, matched only by their diverse cultural backgrounds. Nearly a dozen languages are spoken among the centre’s staff.
Now their building is bigger too.
The FDC has unveiled a recently completed 18,000-sq.-ft. expansion of its Portage la Prairie facility, making the site a one-stop shop with additional processing suites and new and specialized processing technologies such as quicker cooking and advanced sterilization and sealing equipment. Space has also been added to co-locate MAFRI staff to offer advisory services in areas such as commercialization and marketing.
Growing demand
The $7.74-million expansion was needed to meet growing demand for their services, said FDC chief operating officer Lynda Lowry.
“Manitoba’s agri-food processing industry punches above its weight,” she said, referring to the expanding volume of local food processing underway here comparable to the province’s population.
The FDC began playing a role in that as far back as 1978, when what was then called the Canadian Food Products Development Centre relocated from Morden to Portage la Prairie. The first and only publicly funded food research and development centre in North America had a humble start, with just 3,000 sq. ft. and four staff. Working with local vegetable growers the first product worked with was peeled onions.
Having just undergone its fourth expansion, the facility is now at nearly 75,000 sq. ft., and is a federally licensed facility that’s seen over 1,000 products through its doors, including, fast growing Manitoba brands such as Harvest Hemp Foods.
Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger congratulated the FDC and its supporters at an open house May 25 for the role helping to advance economic development in Manitoba through adding value to Manitoba-grown ingredients.
“The future of the economy is going to be innovation,” said Selinger.
“The kinds of things we’re developing at the food development centre here can allow us to regain our reputation not just as the breadbasket of the world but as a place that’s learning how to feed the world in a safe, nutritious way.”
Client oriented
One of the FDC’s newer clients is Canadian Prairie Garden Puree Products Inc., which last month unveiled plans to use FDC staff to begin producing all-natural fruit and vegetable purées for the soup and baby food industry, using culled, “less than eye perfect” locally grown vegetables. That company aims to create 60 new processing jobs while opening additional markets for local growers.
“We are proud to support projects like the FDC that result in a stronger Canadian economy through increased commercialization opportunities for processors resulting in long-term benefits for our farmers,” said Candice Hoeppner (MP – Portage-Lisgar) who was also at the open house.
Funding for the expansion has come from Western Economic Diversification Canada’s Community Adjustment Fund, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Flexibility Fund and the Province of Manitoba.
Margaret Hughes, co-owner of the fast-growing Portage la Prairie company, Best Cooking Pulses, directly attributes growth of their business to the support the FDC has given them over the years. Staff have helped them in many areas from advising on matters such as regulatory approvals and labelling to actual product development, Hughes said.
“It’s amazing to be able to phone up the Food Development Centre and within a few hours you’ve got really solid and helpful advice,” she said. “And it’s always friendly.”
It comes from a staff whom Lowry describes as not just “smart, young and ambitious” and possessing a broad range of technical expertise, but one with a genuine passion for their jobs and commitment to working with people.
“They really work for the client,” she said. “They’re flexible and creative.” They’re an outside-the-box kind of people. They’re not limited by a ‘we’ve always done it this way.’ That’s not in their vocabulary. ‘We can make it work’ is the way they operate.”
