Supporting Canadian Businesses

April 6, 2025 – Written By Arlene Dickinson, Managing General Partner at District Ventures Capital.

 

Food, glorious food. We all need it. We all enjoy it.

I get to spend my days immersed in the food and beverage sector. Investing, supporting, and thinking about the agrifood space is my jam. (yes i know ;)) I believe that leading from the front in this space starts at the shelf.

When you went to the store this week, did you look for something Made in Canada? Maybe it was grown here. Maybe it was packaged, produced, and branded here. Maybe you didn’t think about it at all. Hopefully, though, you did.

Canada grows some of the best food ingredients in the world. But, too often, we ship our raw ingredients out and buy back finished products to consume that were made somewhere else. Meanwhile, our homegrown food companies are struggling mightily to scale. Our purchasing is helping international brands dominate the shelves, making them rich, with our dollars.

Prices are rising and supply chains are stretching thinner. And we have seen this bad movie before. During COVID, when shelves emptied and borders slowed, we all suddenly realized just how fragile the food system really is. Price spikes, labour shortages, and growing reliance on imports have only deepened that reality.

When we lose the ability to produce our own food, from growing it to processing it to putting it on our shelves and on our tables, we give up control. And in a crisis, that dependence becomes a very serious national risk.

That is why commercialization matters.

We have incredible Canadian entrepreneurs creating high-quality, sustainable, export-ready products. Their innovation is strong. They are busy building brands and their ambition is there. What is missing though is the last mile of support they need to cook with fire. The winning recipe?(sorrynotsorry) Infrastructure, capital, and coordinated policies that take these products from concept to shelf. From startup to scale.

We need to build more manufacturing and processing capacity. We need to invest meaningfully in the companies that are ready to grow. And we need retailers to lean in more than ever before as part of a truly coordinated effort.

As consumers, we can choose to support Canadian food businesses.
As investors, we can back the founders building them.
As citizens, we can ensure the governments we vote for, from municipal to provincial to federal, understand the urgent need to invest in and build a world-class food industry here at home. And to market Made in Canada around the globe.

We are already in the crisis that is showing us what is at stake. But it is not too late.

We have the talent and the innovation. We have the best raw resources in the world. Now we need to build the systems that let us own our food supply from start to finish. And that has to start now.

Buying Canadian means supporting Canadian food entrepreneurs. It makes our country stronger and more independent. Our buying decisions easier. Our food better.

❤️❤️