With U.S. tariffs on Canada paused for a 30-day period, Alberta Food Processors Association members are looking to see what this means for the future and how best they can support their business and make plans during this confusing time.
AFPA Executive Director welcomes the reprieve and says everyone is doing their best to pivot and best adjust. The reality is that so many of their members have so much trade with the United States. So Bianca Parsons points out that they actually had food on trucks or in the air, or beverages that were traveling while they were hearing the news over the last few days.
In general, Parsons highlights the fact that they are a $28 billion dollar industry here in Alberta and they employ around 300,000 people in food, beverage, agri-tourism, in many areas that are under their sector. Parsons states that the tricky thing is that a lot of the statistics come from Stats Canada and they often just say the businesses name. She says “a lot of our businesses don’t do direct trade but in the food and beverage sector they do co-packing. So maybe I’m making a product for a larger company like Dairy Queen or Ikea and then they purchase a product in Canada through Ikea Canada but it eventually ends up in the United States. So that’s why we are trying to do some new studies right now to see what that huge impact would be.”
Parsons and the AFPA are very honoured and proud of the Made in Alberta program which was created by the provincial government a couple of years ago. She says “so if you are in the grocery store look for that Wild Rose and the Made in Alberta around there. You can also go to the website MadeInAlberta.co and you can search on that website a Made in Alberta catalog. You can search by product or by area. So you can type in Edmonton or Olds and bring up the community and see what comes from that area. If you, yourself, are a company that is making Alberta products we really encourage you in the food and beverage space to go there – it’s free – sign up and be part of the program.”
As for prices on store shelves, Parsons adds you may not notice changes in prices immediately. If you look back to the last tariff or trade war, she says “something like washing machines. Washing machines got a huge increase in tariffs but dryers didn’t and I can tell you the prices had the same increase. So sometimes when one product, at one store gets an increase then the next store goes ‘oh, wow.You can sell it at that?’ Let us try and do the same. So we could see some dramatic changes in the grocery store. I’m hoping we won’t. I’m hoping that this maybe will be a 30-day or maybe a constant reprieve and I also am hoping people will chose wisely and they’ll go support those products and those local stores that have a local products section of people that are working really hard to keep our prices intact.”
Parsons sits on the board for Food and Beverage Canada. She says this has shown us more than ever that America is an incredible partner and we have some incredible businesses back and forth that we work with. Parsons notes that we have some amazing commodities in this province, but any opportunity from the federal and provincial government for our products to excel on the shelves somewhere else then we really need to do so. In particular, she raises questions such as what other markets are available? and what other supports are available to help our products get there?
Check out the website AFPA.com to learn more about the Alberta Food Processors Association.
Listen to 96.5 The Ranch’s conversation with Bianca Parsons.
