BRAS D'OR, N.S. — The Pan Cape Breton Food Hub Co-op has had the idea of acquiring a processing facility for quite some time.
And using $500,000 from Invest Nova Scotia, the food hub recently purchased the former Celtic Country Market in Bras d’Or, for what they described as "a game changer."
The money was used to buy the building as well as renovate it into a processing facility, retail outlet, commercial kitchen and rental space that supports local, small agri-food businesses and entrepreneurs.
“This facility will be a game changer in our whole industry," said Alicia Lake, executive director of the food hub. “Farmers and food businesses will be able to expand and more people will get to eat Cape Breton grown food year-round.”
Lake said they are working with a team of architects, food safety experts and construction experts to finalize a plan for the building.
“We hope to start renovations in the next tiny bit and to have some operations underway in the fall.”
In June, the Celtic Country Market informed its customers the business would be closing due to low business volumes and the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The Pan Cape Breton Food Hub Co-op Ltd. is a multi-stakeholder co-op with both producers and consumers as members. The food hub includes about 50 food producers, farms and food businesses that sell such things as ready-made meals, jams and jellies.
Lake said as a result of consultations with farmers and other food producers, going back to 2014, they were aware there was a need for a processing facility to close the infrastructure gap.
“No ability to wash vegetables, peel them, freeze them and store them,” she said. “That gap is really holding back farming in Cape Breton because how it currently sits, all the vegetables that come in have to be sold immediately, there’s no place for canning, freezing or storing.”
In 2018, community consultations were held with stakeholders, farmers and people in agriculture, tourism and across the spectrum.
“Again that was one of the biggest things that came up as far as need for strategic direction, the infrastructure gap,” Lake said.
As a result, since 2018 the organization has been looking at what the model would look like, looking at different buildings and working with funders.
Lake said the new facility will also allow for innovative ideas such as meal kits with all the components to create a meal at home. The meal kit market is big right now, she said, a lot of Cape Bretoners are buying kits from other areas of Canada.
“We’d love to do it with local ingredients and have farmers benefit from the kits. It’s a really easy way for families to cook meals from scratch themselves in a way that’s really simple.”
The food hub operates as an online marketplace, with their producer members able to list all the products they have for sale on their website and consumers — households and restaurants — are able to log in, order the products they want, and the food hub organizes the distribution.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the food hub has partnered with the farmers market, providing public access to the products they would have been buying at the farmers market.
“We’re really lucky to have the food hub in place during COVID because it really helps those farmers to make sales that they really need to keep farming and stay viable,” Lake said, adding it also provides fresh local vegetables to the public.
“The most important thing we can do for ourselves is eat healthy.”
In a news release, Invest Nova Scotia announced funding for several businesses in the province, that included the food hub.
“The Invest Nova Scotia Fund plays a vital role in supporting initiatives that advance sectors and regions in Nova Scotia through innovation and collaborative partnerships," said Graham Eisenhaur, incoming board chair. "These projects are a positive example of the strong and sustainable initiatives that Nova Scotians are leading. I look forward to the fund's continued impact."
Anyone wishing more information on the Pan Cape Breton Food Hub Co-op or who would like to join, can visit their website, https://www.capebretonfoodhub.com/.
