Western Fair District develops food and ag-product hub

There’s a lot of construction at the Western Fair District, all in efforts to spur more made-in-Ontario innovation in food and agricultural products. 

The Grove (formerly known as The Progress Building) is in the midst of renovations designed to give new food companies, as well as those in the pre-commercialization stage, a space to work and grow. 

Why it matters: Production facilities at the Western Fair District are intended to help new and emerging companies overcome common production and distribution barriers.

Federal funding enabled construction of new industrial kitchens, storage and other production facilities available for both short- and longer-term rent. Larger industrial kitchens were purpose built for those trying to scale up existing food ventures.

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Smaller kitchen units are intended for those still working on their product, and can be reserved for alternating eight-hour blocks, a feature designed to accommodate entrepreneurs who pursue their ideas outside standard working hours.

The wider project comprises the Western Fair District’s “Accelerator” and “Incubator” programs, says Aaron Martin, agri-food supervisor at The Grove. The idea is to create a supportive production environment, eventually generating an assembly line of successful Ontario businesses.

“The spaces are scalable so they can scale up as they grow,” says Martin, with specific reference to the larger Accelerator rental spaces. “We want to move companies through on a five-year timeline, acting as a kind of revolving door. It doesn’t have to be for food, it just has to be an ag-based product.”

Although construction is not yet complete, a variety of companies have already set up shop. Will Wang and Dan Nejman of Terra Optima Labs, for example, make use of an otherwise unassuming space in the depths of Grove’s basement for production of soil amendments and mushrooms. The pair also work with the district on its compost and circular economy programs and other proof-of-concept projects.

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Actual production is only part of the scaling-up process, though. Post-production requirements, namely storage and packaging, are also being addressed.

“If you’re a small producer with less than 5,000 units, packers don’t want to touch you,” says Martin, adding a packaging facility is part of the overall accelerator project.

“Storage can be hard to find for smaller companies too… We want to add more space for that so someone doesn’t have to keep it all in their garage.”

There’s a community angle to Martin’s “supportive environment.” With a variety of companies operating in the same space, he hopes closer interaction and networking can help more entrepreneurs find solutions to challenges such as ingredient sourcing and regulatory hang-ups.

He says both examples are particularly difficult for emerging companies given inflation, supply chain problems and “outdated legislation.”

“Another issue is meeting federal regulations that will allow food products to cross provincial borders for cross-country distribution. But people working in the incubator kitchens are provincially regulated…Stuff like that can be a pain. But at the same time, other countries do want our products because we’re stringent here.”