India’s roots in the Province of Alberta, Canada, continue to expand even during this unprecedented time of Covid-19. Linkages and cross-cultural ties as well as trade and investment opportunities that are mutually beneficial to the India-Canada and India-Alberta relationship strongly lie within India’s food and beverage industry.
As Indian food/beverage companies look to reshape their logistics operating model to increase effectiveness, efficiency and resilience in a post-Covid world, they should include Canada. Canada also gives investors preferential market access through 14 trade agreements to 51 countries with nearly 1.5 billion consumers and a combined GDP of US$49.3 trillion.
India’s food and beverage footprint in Canada
Indian agricultural/horticultural and processed foods are exported to more than 100 countries/regions, including Canada which is today the recipient of primarily spices, coffee, cereals, and processed foods. Exports to Canada from India averaged yearly Rs 5.49 billion from 1991 until 2020, reaching a record high of Rs 21.39 billion in March of 2019. Despite Covid-19, India's overall food exports since March have increased by 27 per cent.
Canada is home to multiple Indian food and beverage companies including India’s largest organic food company, Sresta and Aliya Foods. The latter, for the past 16 years, has been selling its products under the 24 Mantra organic brand.
With no added pesticides or chemical fertilisers in its 200+ food products, the company abides by its mission to offer high quality, organic and affordable products. The company has been working with local farmers from Calgary, a city in the western Canadian province of Alberta, as part of its sustainable farming initiative to supply it with ingredients used in its food products.
Aliya Foods, which makes everything from butter chicken to samosas under its Chef Bombay brand, employs more than 100 workers out of its 42,000 sq ft facility located in the capital of the Province of Alberta, Edmonton.
Investment opportunities in Alberta
The Canadian Province of Alberta is a prime location for Indian food and beverage companies where they will find a business climate conducive for agri-food, logistics and transportation operations. As warmer global temperatures continue to open up millions of once frigid acres to be plowed, the Canadian prairies will offer Indian food and beverage companies access not only to rich resources and suppliers of proteins, grains and vegetables but also access to North American consumers.
Agriculture represents the largest use of land in this prairie province, with roughly 1.7 million acre of farms covering 80 per cent of the land. Conditions in the region are well-suited for grains, oilseeds, pulses, cannabis, hemp and livestock production.
In 2016, Alberta exported approximately $10 billion in agri-food products. Some 50 per cent of the seed potatoes grown on the 10,000 seed potato acres in Alberta are exported, with the majority of exports earmarked for USA and other international markets.
The province is one of the few locations in the world that has never experienced a region-wide crop failure. Specifically, areas of opportunity for Indian F&B companies include:
• Canola Oil – India consumes 15 MMT of edible oils, and its mostly heart-unhealthy palm oil. Canola is a premium product and currently India picks up the majority of it from the Middle East – who buy the uncrushed canola seeds from Alberta.
• Pulse, Peas and Lentils – The only trade item between India and Canada that was in the billions until India put on some restrictions that impeded bulk exports. Moving forward, a value-added opportunity could be the processing of pulse and lentils into ready-to-eat foods that has a massive market in India.
• Processed and Gourmet Foods – There’s a big demand in India’s high-end retail sector, and consumers are willing to pay a premium for this.
Alberta also offers logistical advantages, being strategically located on the Canamex trade and transport corridor. Thanks to its existing logistics infrastructure which includes rail, intermodal, pacific-coast port access, 3 airports (Calgary International Airport, Edmonton International Airport and Villeneuve) that offer in the case of EIA 24/7 operations in the North with very competitive jet fuel pricing – Alberta is ideally suited for Indian corporate expansions.
Finally, Canada is known for its progressive federal immigration and welcoming investment policies and offers fast track programmes for South Asians seeking to come to Canada as foreign workers and/or students. The Business Express Program (BEP) prioritises the processing of visa applications for qualified businesses and their employees and the Student Partners Program (SPP) assists in expediting the student visa process and delivering higher approval rates.
The community of Parkland County, located 20 miles west of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, considered part of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, is actively recruiting Indian food and beverage companies. The region is already home to numerous food and beverage companies thanks to its strategic location, exceptional infrastructure and easy access to agricultural resources. These include:
• Champion Pet Foods established in January 2020 in Parkland County a 421,000 sq ft facility that employs about 200 people. Referred to internally as the NorthStar Kitchen, the operation features three dry food production lines (Acana and Orijen dog and cat food) as well as a distribution warehouse and logistics centre. Parkland County offers easy access to rich resources and suppliers of proteins, grains and vegetables found in the prairies.
• Cargill produces 1,500 tonne a day of canola oil and 2,000 tonne of canola meal for animal feed out of their Camrose facility located 45 minutes outside of Edmonton.
• Whole Leaf established 11 acre of greenhouses in Coledale, AL, that produces 40-60,000 heads of lettuce (6 days a week) supplies all of Wendy’s 300 Canadian chain restaurants.
• For nearly a decade, Canyon Creek has been creating delicious foods for grocery retailers, restaurant chains, and other foodservice institutions throughout Canada. It operates in both the food service and retail channels and manufactures all products out of a plant located in Edmonton.
• Started with 600 colonies in 1979, TPLR Honey Farms, located in Parkland County, has since expanded to 3,300 colonies for honey production. Honey produced is sold across Canada and exported to North America and Asia.
As the world continues to be further interconnected, the need for new food sources and supply chains will continue to grow. The Province of Alberta, and more specifically, Parkland County, offers Indian food and beverage companies all the ingredients for business success and an opportunity to expand the culinary palette of North American consumers.
(The author is director, economic diversification, Parkland County, Canada)