Three clever contenders captured the top prizes for their innovative creations at the Great Manitoba Food Fight at the Capturing Opportunities business forum at the Keystone Centre in Brandon, Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister Stan Struthers said.
The 21 participants in this annual event represented 15 communities and competed for bragging rights and prize packages that will help them take their recipe from their home kitchen to a commercial product on store shelves.
“Every year, the level of competition in the Great Manitoba Food Fight gets tougher as Manitobans with creative food and beverage ideas pitch their products and tantalize the taste buds of expert judges,” said Struthers. “It’s a great way to discover and launch Manitoba’s next great food or beverage product. The dreams of many previous winners have reached commercial success and we look forward to many more Manitoba products being featured on store shelves, satisfying the growing consumer demand for local products and advertising the ingenuity of Manitoba entrepreneurs.”
This year’s competition had creations that included beet juice, maple mead, beer, fish jerky, black bean brownies, dill noodles, a health bar, flax crackers and red pepper relish.
The first-place prize of $15,000 was awarded to Mitchell Ominchinski of Portage la Prairie for Maple Mead. Reynold Gauthier of St. Claude (Millet King Foods of Canada Ltd.)was awarded the second-place prize of $10,000 for Good Old Fashion Red Millet Beer. The third-place prize of $5,000 was presented to Roger Philippe of All Natural Meats from Carman for Apple Breakfast Sausage.
Prize funding supports the cost of commercializing the winners’ products in a number of different areas and places. Support services include product research and development, package design and market testing. These eligible services can be accessed through a number of Manitoba’s research facilities including the Portage la Prairie Food Development Centre, Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals and University of Manitoba.
“We are pleased to promote the creativity and entrepreneurial drive of Manitobans and help them start new business ventures and strengthen existing ones,” Struthers said. “Competitions like this expose new talents and assist entrepreneurs in making their dreams a reality, while encouraging economic opportunities for rural and urban communities.”
The minister noted Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives staff work with all competitors prior to and following the competition, providing advice and direction on product and business development.
Judges for the 2010 Great Manitoba Food Fight included Dave Shambrock, executive director of the Manitoba Food Processors Association; Cherry Hunt, a past business and culinary instructor at Assiniboine Community College; Janice Meseyton, a product development consultant at the Food Development Centre in Portage la Prairie; and Colleen Dyck, owner of the Great Gorp Project, winner of the 2009 Great Manitoba Food Fight.
