Announcing the Launch of

"The Local Flavours Products and Services Cooperative has been created to unite small-scale food producers and processors to enable more local food products to be developed and marketed in BC." [from SSFPA's press release of November 10, 2004]

A Goal Achieved - With More to Follow

Welcome to a special issue of sound bits providing you with a "virtual launch" of Local Flavours, a brand new products and services co-operative designed for and by small food processors. Local Flavours is the result of countless hours of planning, research, and plain hard work on the part of the Small Scale Food Processor Association. While SSFPA can inform, educate, and encourage, we always knew that something else - a solid business tool - was needed, and this has been a focus since our beginning three years ago.

Details will be released in the next sound bits regarding the Local Flavours membership drive. This will include a timeline and associated fees for business services

Our real-life launch was a media event which took place on November 10, 2004. Below you'll find an outline of the presentations and announcements of that day. Click on the links and you'll learn what was done and said.

So, let's break out the virtual bubbly and introduce Local Flavours!

Where and When was the Media Event?

Date: November 10, 2004

Time :  11:00 am

Place:  Mary Winspear Community Cultural Centre at Sanscha (Corner of Pat Bay Highway and Beacon Avenue, Sidney, BC)

Introducing Local Flavours

SSFPA Co-Chair Pattie Whitehouse introduced Local Flavours to the public. The media kits distributed at the event included these background graphics, outlining the process which has taken place during the last three years to the present day - and which culminated in this media event.

Small Scale Food Processor Association and Local Flavours - Mission, Vision and Values

Local Flavours is a vital outgrowth of SSFPA. The two organizations will continue to be linked, so a discussion of the mission, vision, and values of each was included.

Local Flavours - A Social Enterprise

The plan developed by the Small Scale Food Processor Association proposes that the SSFPA develop a "social enterprise" in order to meet its business and its social goals. The social enterprise will link the SSFPA, which will have the responsibility of pursuing non-market activities with a Shared-Services for-profit Co-op that will broker and provide services to its members. It is the contention of this plan that by small-scale food processors sharing product development, merchandising, information management and marketing services, costs of doing business will be reduced and margins will increase, thus providing enough “room” to cover costs of the shared infrastructure of a social enterprise (which will be operated by Local Flavours) as well as providing increased revenue to the processor. Specifically, Local Flavours will represent and merchandise small-scale food processors’ products in highly specialized regionally branded niche markets.

This Corporate Chart shows the relationship between SSFPA and Local Flavours.

Local Flavours Service Package Information

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