Three Manitoba-made products received funding and other support after winning this year’s Great Manitoba Food Fight, highlighting the many exceptional and delicious locally made foods produced in the province. This announcement was made by Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn.
“We want to help food entrepreneurs see their creations on store shelves for everyone to enjoy,” said Minister Kostyshyn. “Each year, the Great Manitoba Food Fight uncovers some of the best new food ideas in the province. It also gives the innovative people behind them a jump start to take their product to the next level, toward commercial success.”
Ten competitors participated in the Great Manitoba Food Fight last night at De Luca’s Specialty Foods Store in Winnipeg. All competitors have developed but not fully commercialized a new food product. After sampling products, a panel of judges awarded three product development and service award packages to the following competitors:
- gold package (approximate value – $11,000): Cori Poon – lime and toasted coconut cookie dough;
- silver package (approximate value – $7,000) : Carly Minish – maple mustard; and
- bronze package (approximate value – $3,500): Glenda Hart – birch bacon jam.
Each prize package will be used toward relevant training activities with direct application to commercializing the winning food product, such as recipe refinement, package design, marketing, workshops, trade shows, business management and food processing, safety and handling, the minister said. The Great Manitoba Food Fight is sponsored by the Manitoba government and the Manitoba Food Processors Association, in partnership with De Luca’s Specialty Foods Store.
“It can be a little daunting to try and break into the food industry, but fortunately there are all kinds of resources to help entrepreneurs get their start in our province,” says Dave Shambrock, executive director, Manitoba Food Processors Association. “Right now, there are 250 food and beverage processors in Manitoba and we would like to see events like this create even more.”
“The province is committed to a safe and vibrant local food industry,” Minister Kostyshyn said. “Helping food entrepreneurs launch new products contributes to the province’s goal of building a food-processing industry worth $5.5 billion by 2022.”
Currently, food and beverage manufacturing employs more than 14,000 Manitobans and produces more than $4.5 billion in finished products annually.
For more information about the Great Manitoba Food Fight, visit www.gmff.ca.
