Small Food Processor Scale-Up Program

Amount: up to $150K in cost-shared funding of up to 75% of eligible costs.      

The Small Food Processor Scale-Up (SFPS) Program is a multi-year, up to $2M program funded by the Government of BC through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (AF) and delivered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC (IAF).

The Program supports projects in BC’s diverse value-added food processing sector to scale up operations to increase productivity, business opportunities, and competitiveness.

Program Goal & Objective

The goal is to address gaps in BC’s food processing sector to increase food production and economic growth by supporting facility upgrades, new equipment, expanding processing capacity and related training.

The Small Food Processor Scale-Up Program aims to:

• Assist Small Food Processors in scaling up operations to increase productivity, business opportunities and competitiveness.
• Support existing licensed Farm Gate Plus and Abattoir operations to scale up and strengthen local meat supply chains.

Eligible Applicants

To be considered eligible for this program, an applicant must be in the Province of British Columbia, and must be a(n):

• Established food and/or seafood processing business, with:
  • Minimum of two years in operation.
  • Minimum of $100K gross annual revenues and a maximum of $499K gross annual revenues. Applicants will be required to provide documentation that proves how they meet the small food processor revenue criteria.
  • Processors that materially transform a product / included under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)s codes 311 or 312 are eligible to apply.
• Established commercial food hub, commissary kitchen and other shared-use commercial food processing facilities:
  • Facility not required to meet minimum or maximum gross annual revenues but must be in operation for a minimum of one year. Proof of operations (examples could include occupancy permits, business licenses and local health authority permits, paid invoices from tenants etc.) will be required for verification purposes.
  • Projects must fit within one priority commodity group.
  • Projects must be intended for shared use and benefit multiple business tenants within the facility.
  • Individual business tenants within these types of facilities are also eligible to apply as an established food and/or seafood processing business if they meet the criteria detailed above.

For primary meat processors only:

1. Farmgate Plus license holders must have a minimum of 1 year in operation (no minimum or maximum revenue threshold) and be seeking funding to support their transition to become an abattoir. Applicants must demonstrate 1 year of actual operation, not simply holding a license, and be required to confirm they have applied for an Abattoir license before project completion.
2. Abattoir license holders must have a minimum of 2 years in operation (no minimum revenue threshold; maximum revenue of $499k gross annual revenues with audited statements required).