By Geoff Smith (@GeoffSmithLNN on Twitter)

Food for thought – taking a closer look at local food processors

Aug 14, 2017 | 6:38 AM

LETHBRIDGE – The price of oil rises and falls, and with it goes much of Alberta’s economy. But people will always need to eat, and Lethbridge is responsible for producing a good deal of food.

“It’s a pretty major driver of our economy,” says Trevor Lewington of Economic Development Lethbridge. “And it’s part of the reason that Lethbridge has been relatively unaffected by the turndown in oil across the rest of the province. So unlike the rest of Alberta, we are not just generally as dependent on oil and gas resources or businesses. So that food cluster, that food sector really helps us weather the storm.”

Lewington explained agriculture accounts for approximately 20 per cent of the city’s gross domestic product.

Some of the city’s largest private-sector employers are in the agri-food business, including Sunrise Poultry (480 employees as of 2015), Maple Leaf Pork (380), PepsiCo Foods (251), Cavendish Farms (171), and Richardson Oilseed (164). That doesn’t include support businesses.

There are other major processors in the greater Lethbridge-Taber region, including Lantic (Rogers Sugar), McCain Foods, Lamb Weston, AgroPur, and others.

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“There are 20 major processors in the community that employ well over 1,000 people,” Lewington added. “But it’s really the size of the sector… it’s hard to quantify, because you see all the little businesses that either support those businesses or support growers and producers in the region. So the real number, although it’s hard to measure, is much bigger than that.”

How did Lethbridge become such a centre of production? Lewington cites a number of factors, including its location along the CANAMEX corridor, which links the region to the U.S. Interstate Highway system, as well as its rail link to the rest of Canada, and of course, the production of irrigated raw crops.

“Obviously we’re very good at producting potatoes. Canola — the canola industry was essentially born in southern Alberta and it’s now a very significant part of the western Canadian picture.” He also said Lethbridge’s investment in infrastructure is a contributing factor, leading to recent upgrades at Richardson and PepsiCo, and the new Cavendish Farms plant being developed in the city’s industrial area.

“There are many other businesses that are expanding to accomodate the need, both locally and globally,” Lewington said.

Check out other stories is the Food for Thought series:

Food for Thought – Western Canada snacks on southern Alberta products

Food for Thought – Exporting Canadian whisky to the world

Food for Thought – Taber and area feeding Canada’s sweet tooth