TOGETHER WE’RE CHANGING THE INDUSTRY
Connecting Local Food Across BC
Juli Rogerson (Georels), Sarb Mund (Commissary Connect), Lana Popham (Minister of Agriculture), Ned Bell (Ocean Wise), Travis Shaw (Sobey’s) at the Opening of Commissary Connect Laurel Street
Commissary Connect is BC’s First Regional Food Hub
Commissary Connect in collaboration with the BC Ministry of Agriculture, the University of British Columbia and industry partners, are developing the BC Food Hub Network, consisting of a Core Food Innovation Centre at UBC, as well as multiple regional food processing centres across British Columbia.
Commissary Connect’s Laurel Street facility in South Vancouver is the first Regional Full-Scale Food Innovation and Processing hub in the Network and is serving as the Pilot and Demonstration Site.
The Facility includes:
- 24/7 access to shared processing facilities and equipment
- Shared-use technology for booking and billing usage of equipment
- HACCP-Ready production floor
- Onsite Research Facility
- Test kitchen
- Office spaces
- Teaching Area
- Business advisory and product development services
The successes and lessons learned from this pilot and demonstration hub, and the technology developed on-site, will help build and connect future regional food hubs in other communities that will create the B.C. Food Hub Network.
Creation of the B.C. Food Hub Network is part of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Feed BC mandate pillar.
Feed BC is a key priority for the Ministry of Agriculture, which is committed to encouraging more food and beverage processing in the B.C., supporting local economies, job creation and farming families in all regions
Honourable Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture, BC
“The technology and innovation behind Commissary Connect and B.C.’s Food Hub Network is opening doors for our agricultural industry and British Columbian food and beverage processors.”
Juli Rogerson, owner, Georels
“When we first joined Commissary Connect in 2015, we did not know where our dream was going to take us. We had an idea, but we needed help to execute our vision into reality. Sarb and Commissary Connect are the key part of how we were able to scale our business from an idea, to farmers markets, to finding our star product, bone broth, which is now in over 95 local retailers here in British Columbia. Without the practical advice, increased cookline capacity specifically for us, and the industry connections at Commissary Connect, I know we would not have the success we have achieved so quickly. This new HACCP-ready facility lets us grow further, bringing our local B.C. product to more B.C. family tables.”
Ned Bell, executive chef, Ocean Wise
“As a chef and father, the inspiration for the dishes I create comes from my passion for locally grown, raised, harvested and produced food and seafood. British Columbia’s agricultural and food- and beverage-processing industries provide the restaurant industry with many unique and amazing B.C products that come from facilities like Commissary Connect.”