Are you part of the Ontario chicken industry and have a great idea for completely new chicken products? Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO) may be willing to give you chicken supply to produce it.
Why it matters: The Ontario Chicken Innovation and Growth Program, announced Wednesday, is the third element in what was described by CFO president and CEO Rob Dougans as a suite of programs to fill niche market demand with CFO-regulated (as opposed to non-regulated) products.
Other key elements in what Dougans called the “Ontario Growth Initiative” are the already-introduced New Entrant Chicken Processors Program (which has fostered the growth in recent years of companies supplying organic, kosher and halal foods), and the Artisanal Chicken Program for small-scale producers.
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The new program was officially launched by CFO at the National Poultry Show — the rebranded version of what, for six decades, was known as the London Poultry Show.
Program applicants will be evaluated by an independent committee in order to qualify, and if not a current processor, will have to be linked with a processor in their application.
CFO first vice-chair Murray Opsteen explained the organization’s board of directors had two goals in mind when envisioning the program: to bring new, innovative chicken products to the plates of Ontario consumers; and to play a role in enhancing the economic vitality of rural Ontario.
“Are you a processor, retailer, restaurant or foodservice operator with an early stage chicken product that should be on the plates of Ontario consumers?” asks the introductory page on a new website created by CFO to promote the program. “This may be your chance to secure additional allocation (of chicken from CFO) to bring your innovative product to market.”
Businesses at various levels of the chicken value chain now have until July 13 to apply for the first round of newly-allocated birds to be handed out by CFO.
Dougans told Farmtario that the CFO board of directors informed the group it recruited to oversee the program — the Independent Advisory Committee, chaired by former long-time Superior Court judge the Hon. Douglas Cunningham — that the goal is to have the first successful applicant or applicants determined by the end of 2018.
“It will depend on the amount of due diligence that the committee believes it needs to undertake before making a recommendation to the (CFO) board,” the organization’s president and CEO said.
“Your innovations must be designed for consumers, and be the first of their kind in Ontario,” Dougans explained to the audience at the launch event. The application must describe how the new product will increase consumption of chicken in Ontario, and must include a proposed marketing strategy citing market research.
If the applicant is not a primary processor, then a primary processor must be listed as a partner in the application to which the new allocation of chicken would be linked.
“We think is a big idea,” Dougans said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to create growth in a sustainable way.”
Aside from Cunningham, who since leaving the bench has established a private consultancy in dispute resolution, other members of the Independent Advisory Committee are former Canadian Poultry and Egg Processors Council chair Paul Borg, supply chain specialist Steve Dowbiggin, and marketing executive Mary Beth Williamson.
Although no advisory committee members attended the launch, Cunningham was quoted in a news release handed out by CFO to the media: “This program is all about accelerating innovative products that meet consumer needs,” he said.
