Funding for marketing Canadian soybeans

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

by SUSAN MANN

A soybean organization, Soy Canada, has received $358,175 in federal government funding for market development.

The money will go towards helping Soy Canada identify new and emerging markets and demand for Canadian soybean products. Soy Canada is the national association uniting all groups in the Canadian soybean industry.

Kitchener-Conestoga MP Harold Albrecht made the funding announced in Guelph Thursday on behalf of federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

Soy Canada will use the funding to implement a market development strategy, attend international trade shows and lead missions to raise awareness of Canadian soybeans, according to the federal government’s news release.

Executive director Jim Everson says “in terms of new markets there’s a lot of interest in China in food-grade soybeans.” Canada exports a lot of commodity soybeans for processing to China but there’s “a lot of interest in China in food-grade soybeans.”

Canadian exporters are also interested Southeast Asian markets, he says.

Everson says the organization has a market development strategy already and “this funding is going to help us implement it.” Part of the money will be used to create brochures and products with information outlining varieties of soybeans, their protein levels and oil content.

“It’s a comprehensive package that we’ve put together that the government as agreed to fund,” he says.

The government’s release says Canada is the fifth largest exporter of soybeans in the world, exporting to more than 55 countries in 2014. Soybeans are the fourth largest crop by acreage in Canada and production has grown by 123.7 per cent since 2000.

The government funding is from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s AgriMarketing program. It’s a five-year program under Growing Forward 2 with up to $341 million available for projects.

Everson says Soy Canada is also putting a similar amount to the government’s $358,175 into the market development project. BF