A container of tea shows off the GFSI certification logo at Blue Ocean Teaz and Herbalz in British Columbia.
Selling your food products overseas, in a new international market, can be a great next step for your business.
The AgriAssurance Program – Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Component can provide funding to help you get the certifications required to sell your food product internationally. This includes everything from Safe Quality Foods, Hazard Analysis, and Critical Control Points certifications to vegan, nut-free, and Halal certifications.
Blue Ocean Teaz and Herbalz Inc. is a prime example of a business that took advantage of funding offered via AgriAssurance. This British Columbia-based company produces high-quality blended teas. They used funding from the AgriAssurance Program to help them get certified in order to secure new partnerships with companies in international markets (US, Europe and UK). “Since receiving our new certification, we have been successful in increasing our business by an additional $500,000 this year,” says President & CEO Mark Arathoon.
Maple3 founder Stéphane Nolet takes a sip of maple water.
Over in Quebec, beverage company Maple 3 used funding from AgriAssurance to achieve South Korean Organic Certification for their organic maple water.
“Since then, we’ve achieved massive growth in Korea,“ says Maple 3 general manager Yannick Leclerc.
Why should you participate in the AgriAssurance Program, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Component?
- Get funding to help cover the costs of meeting the requirements needed to export your product.
- Spend less time navigating red tape and more time working on your business goals.
In order to be eligible for funding, businesses must meet the following criteria:
- You operate in the agriculture, agri-food and agri-products industry, including the fish and seafood industry
- You are directly involved in growing, harvesting, processing, or otherwise transforming or consolidating your products
- Your project is aimed at meeting actual market-specific certification requirements (support under this component is only provided for initial certifications, not subsequent renewals)
- You have up to 500 full-time equivalent employees
- Your annual revenues don't exceed $100 million
- You are a legal entity capable of entering into legal binding agreements
Find out how AgriAssurance can help you get your product approved for sale in new markets or, connect with an AgriAssurance program officer directly by emailing aafc.assurance.aac@agr.gc.ca.
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We collect personal information from callers and call centre agents to respond to inquiries regarding agriculture and agri-food sector support programs and services and to facilitate program delivery.
Please note that all calls are recorded. Calls may also be monitored by a manager through a listen-in feature, which is only used for quality assurance purposes.
The collection and use of this information is authorized under the Financial Administration Act and the applicable legislation for the program you are inquiring about, including, but not limited to, the Farm Income Protection Act.
We use personal information to:
- identify you, and where required, verify your program participation
- respond to your inquiry and provide guidance or services
- refer your inquiry to the appropriate program official for resolution
- document and manage requests and interactions
- administer and deliver Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) programs
- improve service delivery and internal processes
- monitor call centre agent performance and adherence to call centre policies and procedures
- conduct program evaluation, reporting, and quality assurance
Caller information is stored in a Government of Canada–approved cloud solution managed by a vendor under contract with AAFC, with data securely stored in Canada.
The collection of personal information is described in Standard Personal Information Bank (PIB) PSU 914 (Public Communication) and in the program-specific PIB related to the program you are inquiring about, including, but not limited to, the PIB specific to AgriStability and AgriInvest (see Net Income Stabilization Account, PIB PPU 183). Personal information is retained for 2 years and then destroyed, unless it is used for program delivery purposes, in which case it is retained in accordance with the retention period specified in the applicable program-specific PIB.
Under the Privacy Act, you have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information. To exercise these rights, you may contact the Access to Information and Privacy Office at aafc.atip-aiprp.aac@agr.gc.ca.
You also have the right to file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you believe your personal information has been handled improperly.
You can also call our contact centre between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Central time Monday through Friday at 1-877-246-4682.
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