Opportunities for Growth
Agri-Business is big business in Winnipeg.
In the early decades of Winnipeg’s existence, the city’s growth was fuelled by the grain trade and agriculture. Today, the agri-food sector still plays a major role in the city’s economy.
The agri-food sector in Winnipeg runs the gamut from food processing facilities, research and development, major manufacturers of agricultural equipment, transportation and marketing.
Some of the city’s agri-food subsectors, such as grain and hogs, are substantially mature. In recent years additional subsectors have emerged with significant potential for growth, including functional foods, composites and biofuels.
The agricultural sector has faced many changes over the last 10 years, including the changing conditions due to domestic and international market forces, industry structure changes (mergers and acquisitions), government policies at the international, national and provincial levels and the vagaries of nature to which agricultural production is exposed.
While these changes can present challenges to existing sectors, they also present opportunities for new product development. Winnipeg has an established network of research and development organizations to identify and pursue new opportunities for the agri-business sector in Winnipeg.
These efforts focus on:
- New product development for the agri-food and fibre sector
- A growing value-added agri-food processing sector
- An established agri-business manufacturing and technology sector
- A developing biotechnology and life sciences industry
