The Saskatchewan food marketplace, in its infancy when compared to well-established offerings in Eastern Canada, has unique regional flavours to offer consumers.
Sylvain Charlebois, a speaker at a conference in Saskatoon Feb. 20-22 that explored products for Saskatchewan, said the province has largely focused on exporting large scale commodities in the past.
The marketing professor at the University of Regina said there is room to develop more local products and build distribution networks in the province, whether through farmers’ markets or greater access to retail outlets.
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“We need to learn how to produce wealth through Saskatchewan-made for Saskatchewan people,” he said.
The conference, hosted by the Assemblée Communautaire Fransaskoise and Institut Français, discussed rural development, showcased agribusiness opportunities and featured participants from Canada, the United States and France.
Charlebois said it offered Saskatchewan agribusiness entrepreneurs a chance to gather, get organized and move forward with a marketing agenda on its terroir or unique products.
Saskatchewan’s terroir identity is not as easy to pinpoint as the regions of France or Quebec, but is a rich blend of ethnic influences and flavours, he said.
“It’s a culture that needs to be marketed through food.”
Charlebois noted the potential of Saskatchewan-made products to serve local markets, citing bison meat, saskatoon berries and specialty mustards as examples.
While governments can support the creation of distribution networks and can make opportunities for producers to try new products, he said local entrepreneurs remain the most important factor.
“The catalyst for change should be producers themselves,” he said. “Saskatchewan people should take the lead to address this.”
Marc Masson of the Assemblée Communautaire Fransaskoise said the group hosted the conference to explore Saskatchewan’s potential.
“We want to do what we can to help with rural development and try to find a solution to problems in rural communities,” he said, citing depopulation and aging demographics.
The francophone community is especially interested because they are found in great numbers in rural Saskatchewan communities including Gravelbourg, St. Denis, Vonda and Debden.
Masson hopes participants can get ideas from regions like Charlevoix in Quebec. It has created a driving route to allow consumers to taste and experience a host of products, farms and rural experiences.
Charlevoix dairy producer Dominique Labbé detailed how he uses a herd of Canadienne dairy cows to produce high protein milk for his distinctly flavoured raw cheese.
He said Saskatchewan is where his region was at 10 years ago.
“The focus is not precise,” he said through a translator.
“It’s more than just the food. It’s the culture, the people, the landscape.”
