August 2026 – By Alisa Hutton, Chief Operating Officer, BC Food & Beverage

 

British Columbia has no shortage of ambition when it comes to food.

Across the province, farmers are growing remarkable products. Food and beverage companies are innovating and scaling. Researchers are developing new ideas. Communities are investing in food security. Entrepreneurs are launching businesses. Organizations are tackling workforce challenges, infrastructure, trade, sustainability and market access.

 

There is tremendous work happening.

But what if the greatest opportunity isn’t to create more?

What if it’s to better connect what we already have?

Food doesn’t operate in silos.

 

Too often, the different parts of our food system are viewed independently.

Agriculture is treated as agriculture. Food processing as manufacturing. Food security as a social issue. Workforce as a labour issue.

Innovation as technology. Transportation as infrastructure. Trade as economic development.

 

The food system doesn’t experience them separately.
A farmer’s success depends on markets, processing capacity, transportation, labour and infrastructure.

A food manufacturer may have an incredible product and enormous growth potential, but still needs ingredients, people, equipment, capital, distribution and customers.

An innovative idea only changes an industry when there is a pathway to commercialize it. Everything depends on something else.

That’s not a flaw in the system.

That’s what makes it a system.

From solving problems to building ecosystems this creates an opportunity to change the questions we ask.

Instead of asking, What does this sector need?

 

Ask:

What would make the entire ecosystem more successful?

Instead of asking, How do we help this business?

 

Ask:

What conditions would allow hundreds of businesses like it to succeed?

And instead of immediately asking, What new program should we create?

 

Perhaps the first question should be:

What connection is missing?

Those questions encourage us to look across infrastructure, capital, talent, markets, technology, research and relationships and particularly at what happens between organizations rather than only what happens within them.

That’s often where the greatest opportunities exist.

 

The power is in the connections

Successful ecosystems create something individual organizations cannot create alone: momentum.

Talent attracts companies. Companies attract investment. Investment enables innovation. Innovation creates new products. Research creates commercial opportunities. Growing businesses create jobs. Stronger businesses create stronger markets.

 

Each part of the ecosystem begins making the others more valuable.

This is where the opportunity for British Columbia becomes exciting, because many of the pieces are already here.

BC has exceptional farmers and producers. Food and beverage manufacturers. Universities and colleges. Food hubs and processing infrastructure. Researchers and innovators. Ports and transportation networks. Retailers and distributors. Investors. Indigenous entrepreneurs and food systems. Regional organizations. Government partners. And thousands of entrepreneurs building businesses across the province.

 

The opportunity isn’t simply to add more pieces.

It’s to connect them.

 

Imagine what we could build

Imagine starting with an ambitious goal:

Make British Columbia one of the best places in the world to build a food and beverage business.

Then work backwards.

What infrastructure would businesses need to scale?

How could more of what BC grows become higher-value products made here?

How could research move more quickly into commercialization?

How could food hubs connect regional producers to processing, training and new markets?

How could established companies help emerging businesses scale?

What skills will the industry need five or ten years from now?

Where could one strategic investment unlock opportunities for dozens or hundreds of businesses?

These are ecosystem questions.

And they lead to bigger possibilities.

 

Building something stronger together

Nature has understood ecosystems far longer than we have.

A forest doesn’t thrive because it contains one exceptionally successful tree. Its strength comes from the relationships between trees, soil, fungi, water, insects, animals and countless other organisms.

Each plays a role. Each affects the others.

Our food economy isn’t so different.

The strength of BC’s food system won’t be determined solely by the success of individual businesses, organizations or initiatives.
It will also be determined by the strength of the connections between them.

That means looking beyond organizational boundaries. Sharing knowledge. Connecting infrastructure. Creating pathways for investment and innovation. Bringing unexpected partners together. And recognizing that sometimes one organization’s challenge can become another organization’s opportunity.

BC already has extraordinary ingredients.

The next opportunity is to build the ecosystem around them.

Because when we strengthen the connections, we don’t just create stronger businesses.

We create a stronger, more resilient and more ambitious food system for British Columbia.