The Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre Inc. (Food Centre) and Cultivator powered by Conexus (Cultivator) have signed a memorandum of understanding that is intended to benefit Saskatchewan agriculture and food tech entrepreneurs.
“There are so many great resources that exist in our province,” said Cultivator director Laura Mock at the July 8 announcement.
“And rather than creating new programs, we are able to partner and help our founders to achieve their success and to grow their business.”
The Food Centre offers expertise in nuerous areas such as product development, processing, extrusion, food safety training, ingredient manufacturing and downstream processing.
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The two organizations will co-operate by:
• Supporting food tech, agri-food tech, upcycling and ag-tech startups.
• Providing client referrals to each other.
• Collaborating on programs, seminars, webinars and workshops.
Cultivator will guide the new businesses in their next steps, while the Food Centre will provide technical support for product development and business support to expand the companies.
“This collaboration reflects a shared vision to empower Saskatchewan ag-tech and food tech entrepreneurs by streamlining access to expertise, resources and opportunity,” Food Centre president Mehmet Caglar Tulbek said at the announcement.
It’s hoped the partnership will make it easier for new entrepreneurs and startups to get started in food processing, as well as expand Saskatchewan businesses and the province’s local economy.
Mock cited Saskatchewan agriculture as a big reason for Cultivator’s success becaues the industry provides a number of opportunities and connections for entrepreneurs with new ideas.
Other “ecosytem partners” include AgWest Bio, Innovation Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnershipand Opus. The Food Centre partnership was a natural next step.
“It only made sense to connect with Mehmet and to see how we could further partner together to amplify the resources for our partners and the outcomes,” she said.
“And really, when Mehmet and I talked, the Food Centre brings such a strong technical expertise that’s unmatched globally in terms of the product development.”
Recently, the Food Centre has been investing in biotech, upcycling and byproduct utilization, which opens other options for startups as well.
“With all those new ingredients and the byproducts coming into the market, there’s a huge value to increase the value added opportunities of these products in Saskatchewan,” Tulbek said.
He called Saskatchewan the “specialty capital of North America” because of the variety of crops, unique raw materials and byproducts produced in the province.
The partnership will allow startups to increase their size and capacity, and speed their ability to get a product to market. These actions will cause a ripple effect.
“If we can help the companies to become more successful, produce more products, create more revenue and create more jobs, it’ll be better for the province … which we can help push the overall initiative of the province for their goals for 2030 and 2050, not only for exports, but also manufacturing, and helping Canada (reach its) economical goals,” Tulbek said.
The partnership will explore opportunities such as upcycling , carbon capture, create climate resilience and production that creates sustainability benefits.
Mock said the partnership is a way to increase Saskatchewan and Canada’ opportunities for manufacturing and processing.
“We want people to know that it’s attainable,” Mock said.
“That you can build ag innovation in Saskatchewan, and not just you can, but Saskatchewan is the place to build ag innovation.”
