Canada: North American Neighbors Healthy Foods

The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service is recruiting qualified and export-ready U.S. food processors with a minimum sale of $1 million in the United States to participate in the North American Neighbors Healthy Foods Virtual Market Showcase. The virtual market showcase will take place November 8-9, 2022. The United States is among major leaders in the world market in producing natural, organic, and gluten free products. U.S. products are recognized in Canada and throughout the globe as being both safe and innovative. Since the onset of COVID-19, consumers have been careful in making their food choices both on price and quality. They look towards products offering natural and clean ingredients. This event will help small business enterprises meet with interested Canadian brokers, distributors, and importers that can help them to sell their products in Canada and obtain listings in key retailers.

Canada was the largest foreign market for all U.S. high-value, consumer-oriented products with exports reaching close to $18 billion in 2021. The Canadian market size for natural packaged food products is $4.6 billion and is forecasted to grow by 5.3 percent in 2022. In the coming year, demand for organic products forecast at 9 percent growth and gluten-free products forecast at 11.5 percent growth. Natural products such as breads, rice, pasta, cereals, and olive oil saw double-digit growth. Euromonitor reports the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced consumers to choose healthier food and beverage options that will enhance a healthy diet. Buyers who are influenced not only by clean ingredients but by companies and products incorporating sustainable practices in their production of their foods have  emerged recently.  

Canadian retailers rely on imported foods to fill their shelves and bring new ideas. In addition, the country offers a sophisticated integrated food supply chain. There are excellent warehousing and distribution channels to get new products to retail stores. There are quantity challenges both for U.S. companies to meet a critical amount and for Canadian buyers that place orders smaller than those in the United States. Nevertheless, there are U.S. companies that have persisted in understanding the Canadian market and have their annual company sales by 5 to 10 percent. Another caveat to keep in mind, the retail landscape differs from the United States: smaller and large food companies rely on Canadian food brokers and distributors to pioneer their products in Canada. They help U.S. small and medium enterprises to develop a realistic view on what it takes to launch products in Canada, and competitively price them for the market.