Who We Are

Our members are big on small. Small farms, carefully tended. Small batches of food, lovingly produced. Small processing facilities, conscientiously operated.

But small isn't all. Our members own food-based businesses throughout the distinctive regions of a huge province, British Columbia, Canada. From grassy plateaus and interior vineyards to coastal wetlands and rocky shorelines, these enterprises are regionally based but not regionally limited. Many of our members ship products throughout the province, the country and beyond!

The vision of the Small Scale Food Processor Association (SSFPA) is to help create regional food sustainability. Our mission is to represent the interests of small-scale food and beverage processors. Our goals are to encourage the creation and development of these businesses and assist with the distribution of their products.

How does SSFPA attain this vision, this mission, and these goals?

Business Development,
Food Processing Information,
and Product Distribution

Direct initiatives of the SSFPA help fulfill our mandate to represent, educate, and develop. Our current initiatives include:

• BC Specialty Food Directory, a thorough, but concise, on-line listing of products of small food producers and processors in BC. With close to 700 products and 200 categories of food, the Directory is a virtual marketplace, a place to see and be seen, and a treasure trove of contacts and potential business associates. With a simple, accurate Search mechanism (that can create hard copies of the results), it's easy for purchasers to find specialty foods for their stores, restaurants, or processing facilities. And, for now at least, the SSFPA provides this service for free!

• Funding for Food Safety Planning and Programs. SSFPA has been contracted to deliver the Implementation Element of the joint Federal-Provincial Food Safety Initiative to food processors in BC. Through this Initiative assistance is available for processors to implement food safety programs (up to $15,000 for Good Manufacturing Practices and up to $29,000 for HACCP or ISO 22000 programs). SSFPA is particularly proud of its role in this vitally important aspect of food production.

The SSFPA, through this website and through partnerships with other groups and businesses, provides solid information and specific tools for use by budding entrepreneurs and already-established food producers and processors. These include:

• Our promotion of the British Columbia Food Processor's Reference Manual, published on-line by the BC Food Processors Association (BCFPA). Providing basic strategies to set up and maintain a food processing business in BC, the topics covered by the Guide range from market research and site location to packaging and distribution of products. In addition, SSFPA participates in board meetings of the BCFPA.

• Our promotion of InfoBasket, an initiative of British Columbia's Ministry of Agriculture and Lands. InfoBasket provides a wealth of Agri-food information on the internet. It is organized into "areas of interest called Communities … comprised of folders such as Production and Processing, Business Management and Finance, Marketing and Trade, Regulations and Legislation, Directories and Contacts, and Statistics and Market Data." InfoBasket is truly a comprehensive, "one-stop" shop for food producers and processors.

• Our promotion of (and membership discounts for) Business Development Tools produced by Cornu Enterprises of Victoria, BC. These are practical, self-paced, downloadable management training materials for small-and-medium sized businesses. Developed by business educators and organized into bite-sized chunks for busy people, six major management-tool modules are available: Business Plan, Personnel Management, Sales & Marketing Management, Financial Management; Management Suite (all four of the above); Interactive Excel Workbooks. In addition, 15 other modules are available for download, extensions of the major products just listed. [Note: SSFPA members get a 5% reduction when registering online to purchase these products. Enter the code CNE1015 in the Distributor Number Field.]

Further activities, in which SSFPA represents small food and beverage processors, are outlined in our What's New section. This includes our participation in

• BC Food & Bio Products Technology and Commercialization Centre;
• Canadian General Standards Board; and
• Provincial Territorial Federal Food Safety Committee.