IQF Facility

The purpose of the project will be to successfully establish in the sand plains a state-of-the-art food processing facility that offers unique technology for converting locally-grown fruits and vegetables into value-added forms through freezing and freezing-drying. In these formats, products can be shipped much longer distances around the world, opening up new markets. The business model proposes to make this facility with its innovative, energy-efficient technologies available to contract buyers and local producers.

Outcomes will be measured by reference to three factors:
· The volume of locally grown raw fruits, vegetables and ginseng root converted to higher value forms through the facility.
· The number of new jobs created in the facility, most of which will be year-round permanent jobs requiring specific skills, and the payroll associated with those jobs,
which will be for the benefit of the local communities
· The extent to which the products represent new incremental markets for Ontario products both geographically in terms of where in the world those markets are and functionally in terms of the kinds of products offered.

Biomass

With the provincial government proclamation that all coal fired electricity generating power plants have to cease using coal by 2014, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has a real need to develop other sources of fuel. The options available to OPG with regard to these plants are dramatic. One option is that they could close these plants. With the size of the investment made in these plants, this would appear to be a less desirable outcome. This leads then to the discussion of retrofitting these plants to use some other source as fuel for electricity generation. Natural gas, an abundant but non-renewable resource, certainly is one option. A renewable option is the use of biomass produced from various sources including forestry and agriculture.

Biomass does provide opportunity for farmers, even those on marginal lands. Those areas that have sandy soils and long growing seasons are really ideal for native grass production, as has been shown by the Alternative Land Use Service organization in Norfolk County. Former tobacco farmers could find this an interesting, low cost crop to produce.

For perennial crops to be a good fit in Southern Ontario, the following criteria must be met:
1. Grown on marginal ground;
2. Long term contracts on behalf of the end user and grower
3. Contract with grower includes a guaranteed floor with an upside tied to the highest corn price and/or petroleum in a given year;
4. Option to sell carbon credits independent of the biomass contract to a third party;
5. And the farmer has an option to invest in the supply coop/storage business. If these criteria are not met, then it will quickly turn into the ultimate commodity business that gives the farmer less flexibility.

Ontario South Coast Wineries and Growers Association

Erie Innovation and Commercialization will provide opportunities for groups to organize and align with the goals of the region. The incorporation of the Ontario South Coast Wineries and Growers Association (OSCWGA) is characterized by impacting groups of producers, has market pull, and has a local champion. This project is designed to explore and develop new and sustainable business and agri-tourism opportunities for wine producers and growers in the sand plains region and is intended to support community and regional economic development opportunities. The goal is to enhance regional wine, grower and agri-tourism capacity to generate and support diversification of economic development. This will contribute to the development of a sustainable, prosperous and diverse economy driven by innovation. In addition to developing the industry, there is an opportunity to investigate the science behind the wine sector in this region, and in particular to consider the impact of geography, agronomics and climatology on the performance of wineries and growers in the region.

Ontario Lavender Association

An opportunity exists for the development of an organized lavender industry in Ontario. Ranging from Sarnia to Oshawa, lavender growers are motivated to develop their sector, but lack the organization to drive this forward. Erie Innovation and Commercialization will assist in the development of the Ontario Lavender Association. Likely a niche market, this nevertheless will impact many different growers. Linking into research being conducted by OMAFRA and the University of Guelph, lavender growers have the need to develop varieties that will survive and prosper under Ontario conditions. In concert, there is a significant agri-tourism possibility under consideration that could mirror the “Lavender Festivals” which are held in the state of Texas in Blanco in June or in Washington in July every year. Under that scenario, a weekend festival is held which attracted upwards of 30,000 visitors. Assuming an individual spend of $200, this is a $6M program in Oregon. Add in a tourism multiplier effect of between 5 and 7, and the impact is that much greater! The plan with the development of Ontario lavender would be to create a similar annual event, initially starting as a smaller subset of an existing festival.