Food News, March 2017

 
  Food News, March 2017
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 Events | Tariffs | Regulatory changes | AFPA

Events

Troubleshooting Shelf Life
April 11, 2017 – Airdrie, AB
This workshop is designed for farmers’ market vendors and farm direct operators who want to understand how to determine the shelf life of food products.  Attend this workshop to learn what shelf life means, how to use various testing instruments and understand food labelling requirements that are applicable to you. To register, call the Ag-Info Centre at 1-800-387-6030. The cost is $25 per person (includes snacks, lunch and GST).

Marketing Essentials: Intro to Marketing
April 12, 2017 – Airdrie, AB
Come prepared to learn how the five P’s of marketing can be used to create your business marketing strategy. You will: review the five P’s of marketing; examine how to work through each of these topics; start to develop your own marketing strategy. This day is geared either toward new agriculture and food entrepreneurs or companies who would like to increase sales of new products. To register, please call 1-800-387-6030. Cost: $25 per person including lunch.

Food Labelling for Local Markets
April 12, 2017 – Airdrie, AB
April 13, 2017 – Leduc, AB
This workshop will guide you through the basic food labelling requirements and how they apply to your farm direct marketed food products. It will also outline the new labelling requirements and proposed legislative changes. Following the interactive half-day workshop, we will offer one-on-one food labelling coaching. Bring the existing or proposed food labels to be reviewed. To register, contact Delores Serafin at 1-780-427-4611.
Cost: Free

Marketing Essentials: Telling Your Story
April 19, 2017 – Airdrie, AB
If you are a processor, producer, or agricultural organization interested in learning how to take your stories to the next level and turn storytelling into a tangible marketing skill, then this workshop is for you. This hands-on workshop will provide tools to overcome the #1 challenge in marketing; insight into the power of business storytelling; information on the seven types of business stories; skills to build your marketing stories to engage your customers. To register, call 1-800-387-6030. and the cost is $25 per person including lunch.

Money Down the Drain
April 26, 2017- Edmonton, AB
April 27, 2017 – Calgary, AB
Gain control of your ingredients, water and production costs, and learn how to turn waste into wealth with “Money Down the Drain,” a one-day workshop, presented by Bruce Taylor and Aleks Poldma of Enviro-Stewards.
You will learn to identify common areas of waste found during food processing; how to measure, reduce, reuse and eliminate common wastes; how the waste approach identifies both cost savings and return on investment;
where to find products and expertise to help you tackle your waste, as well as grant opportunities to help support assessment and implementation.

This workshop is organized by the Alberta Food Processors Association and the cost is $75 for members and $125 for non-members. To register, please go here .
Growth and Innovation in the New Green Economy Conference
May 30-31, 2017 – Calgary, AB
Save the date for this upcoming conference organized by AFPA. Register here.

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Canada Cuts Tariffs to Boost Food Manufacturing

In an effort to boost Canada’s food manufacturing sector, the Canadian government has eliminated a list of tariffs on imported food ingredients used for further processing in Canada. The custom tariff order was published in Canada Gazette on December 28, 2016 and came into force on January 16, 2017. Based on recent import levels, an estimated $48 M in tariffs were collected annually. The elimination of tariffs on imported food manufacturing inputs will support both investment and job creation in Canada’s agri-food processing sector. As the country’s largest manufacturing employer and an important contributor to the economy, this move will make the sector more competitive in domestic and foreign markets.


Regulatory Changes

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is seeking input on a number of regulatory modernization initiatives. Three proposals are currently open for consultation:
Cost Recovery Modernization Initiative (phase I) –  consultation is open until March 31, 2017
CFIA is seeking input on a streamlined list of services, services standards, the appropriate level of cost sharing between regulated parties and taxpayers, as well as the impacts of fee increases on businesses. CFIA’s engagement efforts will include internal and external webinars, and face-to-face meetings in eight cities across Canada.

Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) –  consultation is open until April 21, 2017
The CFIA is working to bring the Safe Food for Canadians Act into force with new federal regulations intended to provide more modern and consistent requirements for all foods imported, exported and traded between provinces. On January 20, 2017, the proposed SFCR were pre-published in Canada Gazette, Part I (CGI), for a 90-day public consultation. If your business imports food into Canada, exports food to another country, or sells food across provinces, you may be subject to the proposed requirements outlined in this video. You can also learn more about the proposal through CFIA’s online resources, webinars and in-person information sessions.
Health Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Ipsos would like to invite you to a webinar which will provide you with an overview of the recent food labelling changes and compliance and enforcement activities (including information on the transition period) and offer you an opportunity to seek clarification on these changes. This webinar will take place on Thursday, March 30 from 1:00-3:00pm EST. You can register here.

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AFPA

Food Safety and Quality Training
•HACCP Refresher -  March 20, 2017-  Edmonton
•Allergen Management  - March 21, 2017 – Edmonton
•FSPCA Preventive Control for Human Food consumption  - March 22  - 24, 2017 – Edmonton
•Certified Manager of Quality/organizational Excellence – April 3, 2017 (4 days) – Calgary
•HACCP I Prerequisite Programs – April 18, 19 – Calgary
•HACCP Developing your HACCP Plan – April 20-21 - Calgary
•FSPCA Preventative Controls for Human Food – May 29 (2.5 days) - Calgary

For more information on any of the above training, please contact Melody at 403-201-3657 (ext. 21)


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Alberta Agriculture and Forestry
(Dial 310-0000 for toll-free access)
Alberta-Ag-Info Centre 310-FARM
Crop Extension Section – 780-643-6249
Livestock and Farm Business Section - 403-968-6556
Local/Domestic Market Expansion Section - 780-968-3553
Processing Industry & Workforce Development Section - 403-340-7625
Safe Food Section 780-415-4570

Food News is available in pdf format: (287KB)

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For more information about the content of this document, contact Lisa Iwanyk.
This document is maintained by Lindsay Rodriguez.
This information published to the web on March 15, 2017.