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In their own words…

I worked my way up from a line worker to a supervisor. It’s part of my job to remind my team that they have every opportunity to do the same. ”

Julie, Afternoon Supervisor at Grand River Foods.

Food processing is the second largest economic engine in Ontario…it offers stable and reliable employment. It doesn’t boom and bust.”

Craig Richardson, President of Grand River Foods

I am proud to work in an industry where I get to work with many different people who are passionate about what they do. Our work feeds the province, the country and more and more, the world.”

Jane Graham, Executive Director of the Alliance of Ontario Food Processors.

The Food and Beverage industry is so important to the continued wealth of Ontario; anything that improves this sector will help the province.”

Kim Turnbull, Chair of the Agricultural Adaptation Council

From product developers to marketers to operators of the newest and cutting edge technologies, the food and beverage processing industry has a variety of flexible and interesting careers that you might not have even known about!”

Rob Anderson, V.P. Operations, Bonduelle North America.

What is food and beverage processing?

Did you eat toast for breakfast? Have a chicken sandwich for lunch? Drink milk with your dinner? Probably one or more of those things came from an Ontario food and beverage processor.

We are the second largest manufacturing sector in Ontario – only the auto industry is bigger. We employ over 110,000 directly and are linked to at least another 100,000 people in other, related industries. We are also the biggest customer for Ontario's farmers.

We are creating valuable jobs and we are growing by investing in new technologies and product innovation. We want to be the centre for food innovation in North America. Innovation, health, quality and skilled employees are our future. By 2013 we plan to be a $40 billion industry. Trust us, we are big.

The food and beverage industry is always looking for skilled employees, people looking for challenging careers in areas like product development, technology, marketing, and more. We want skilled people so much that we're helping to establish the Institute of Food Processing Technology (IFPT) at Conestoga College to ensure future employees have the best technical and supervisory skills.

Following is some additional information about the different areas of Ontario's food processing sector so that you can learn more about what we're all about.