A team of Ontario East marketers will promote the region at a national ethnic and specialty foods show next month in hopes of capturing a share of the lucrative $15-billion market for their communities.

The Oct. 5 and 6 Ethnic and Specialty Food Expo at the International Centre in Mississauga, featured 85 exhibitors last year and 1,600 attendees from all over the world and could bring more this year.

The Ontario East marketing team plans to show attendees that their region is the perfect place to locate to cater to the massive immigrant population in nearby Toronto.

“Being on the doorsteps of Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa with their large immigrant populations positions us well to capture some of that market,” said Chris King, Team Leader for the Ontario East Food Processing Sector Program.

“We have low-cost land, available food-grade buildings, our labour force is highly skilled and inexpensive and we have access to major population centres without actually being in the high-cost jurisdictions of those major communities,” said King.

There are also provincial and government funded programs specific to Eastern Ontario that provide incentives to companies that locate in the region, he said.

The ethnic and specialty foods market is forecast to reach $15 billion within the next decade, according to food show organizers.

The visible minority population in Canada is expected to reach 8.5 million by 2017 and has nudged growth in the ethnic foods market up five per cent per year, so that ethnic foods now make up 12 per cent of all retail foods.

With Toronto home to 41 per cent of Canada’s immigrant population and North America’s second largest food manufacturing centre, huge networking opportunities are available at the show, King said.

As well as providing networking opportunities for food suppliers, service companies, retailers, manufacturers and others, the event offers cooking demonstrations and information about current and future food trends.

Free VIP passes are available to Eastern Ontario food companies and any other friends of the Ontario East Economic Development Commission.

It’s a not-to-be-missed opportunity for anyone interested in doing business within the specialty and ethnic foods sector, said King.

“It’s such a fast-growing industry and a lot of the decision makers and decision influencers are going to be there looking for new products to potentially get on their shelves or into their distribution systems,” he said.

Free passes can be obtained online by following the following link and using the provided registration code: www.ethnicandspecialtyfood.com/eticket.html

For more information:

• Ethnic and Specialty Food Expo www.ethnicandspecialtyfood.com

Also see:

• Kilmarnock Orchard—More Than Just an Apple Farm

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