Ontario Agri-Food Venture Centre

06/05/2026

📢 Ready to scale your food business? 🍽️
The Ontario Agri-Food Venture Centre offers food entrepreneurs access to shared production space, large-batch processing equipment, hands-on support, and guidance to move from recipe development to market-ready products. 📈🍅

Whether you’re producing, packaging, testing, or scaling up the OAFVC can help you take the next step.

Located in Northumberland County, serving all of Ontario.

🔎 Learn more at https://oafvc.ca/ | [email protected]

05/26/2026

What an inspiring day as a vendor at the Southwest Food Summit at The Grove at Western Fair District in London, Ontario! 🌱🤝 Joined by Business & Entrepreneurship Centre, it was a great day of learning, connecting and growing promoting the amazing things we do here at the OAFVC.

From powerful keynote stories to practical breakout sessions, the event was packed with valuable insights for the food & beverage industry and the consumer packaged goods (CPG) space.

A huge highlight was hearing from Emily O’Brien, Founder & CEO of Comeback Snacks whose journey of resilience, reinvention, and ppurpose-driven entrepreneurship was truly motivating. 👏

Some key takeaways from the day:
✨ Be innovative and different
✨ Look for the “cracks” and gaps in the market where your brand can thrive
✨ Strong branding matters more than ever
✨ Identify the customer who can drive the highest volume and demand
✨ Storytelling and marketing are essential to growth
✨ Building the right partnerships can protect and scale your product

Loved connecting with entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and innovators who are shaping the future of food and beverage in our region.💡

05/19/2026

💻 Join us this Thursday for live virtual training for CPG businesses!
Food Safety Fundamentals, hosted by Lisa Cove, Food Safety Consultant and Founder of Shelf Ready Inc.

Pre-register here 👉 https://becn.ca/programs/foodpreneur-advantage-program/

🚨Foodpreneur Advantage Training 👩‍🍳
🛡️ Food Safety Fundamentals for Startups with Lisa Cove, Food Safety Consultant and Founder of Shelf Ready Inc.

This session is designed for food and beverage entrepreneurs who want to ensure they are producing safe products right from the start.

💡 In this free 60-minute online seminar, you’ll learn:
✔️ Basic food safety principles every business must know
✔️ Practical food safety practices for production
✔️ Common mistakes to avoid when starting your food business

Whether you’re developing your first product or preparing to scale production, this session will help you better understand the importance of safe food handling and production practices.

The Foodpreneur Advantage Program supports entrepreneurs looking to start or grow a consumer packaged goods (CPG) food or beverage business through practical, expert-led virtual training.

🗓 May 21
⏰ 10:00 a.m. - 11:00am
🖥️ Live virtual session

👉 Register now (select Northumberland County): https://becn.ca/programs/foodpreneur-advantage-program/

Ontario Agri-Food Venture Centre

05/15/2026

We love when we have the Lord's Hot Sauce in the house! 🙌 Just look at the hustle, the mixing, the packing, the labelling, the bottling... 🥵 Team work makes the dream work! 💪

05/15/2026

🌷 Victoria Day Long Weekend is here! 🇨🇦
The Ontario Agri-Food Venture Centre will be closed Monday, May 18 for the Victoria Day holiday.

This long weekend is the perfect time to support local food & beverage businesses and get inspired in the kitchen 💛
✔️ Try a new recipe using local ingredients
✔️ Visit a farmers’ market or farm stand
✔️ Discover a new Ontario-made food or beverage product
✔️ Follow Northumberland Tourism for upcoming market listings, local events, and things to do across the County

Wishing everyone a safe, relaxing, and delicious long weekend! ☀️

Please note Northumberland County offices will be closed on Monday, May 18th, in observance of Victoria Day.

Other holiday reminders:
♻️ Community Recycling Centres will be closed on Monday, May 18th
♻️ Garbage & recycling collection bumps forward one day the week of May 18th

05/15/2026

Here we go again! Nutes Nutrition preps their smoothie pucks ready to be frozen. 🍓

Working in 4degree room temperature sure is chilly, right Jenny?! 🥶😉

05/12/2026

🚨 ONLINE TRAINING with Foodpreneur Advantage and Amanda of Eye Candy Design!

Marketing & Branding Your Food Product:
If you’re building a food or beverage brand and wondering how to stand out in today’s market, this session is for you. Join the Foodpreneur Advantage Program for this free live virtual training focused on branding and marketing for food and beverage businesses.

💡 In this 60-minute online seminar, you’ll learn:
✨ Why YOU are the brand as a new food or beverage business
🎨 What to consider when creating a visual identity for your company
📱 What marketing in 2026 really looks like for food & beverage brands

Whether you’re launching your first product or refreshing your current brand, this session will help you better position your business for growth and visibility.

The Foodpreneur Advantage Program is designed specifically for entrepreneurs looking to start or expand a consumer packaged goods (CPG) food or beverage business, offering practical introductory training led by industry experts.

🖥️ Live virtual session
⏰ Thursdays at 10:00 a.m.
👉 Register now (select Northumberland County): https://becn.ca/programs/foodpreneur-advantage-program/

https://www.eyecandydesign.co/

04/29/2026

💻 NEXT Virtual Training: TOMORROW with Foodpreneur Advantage
Pre-register here 👉 https://becn.ca/programs/foodpreneur-advantage-program/

🚨 Next Training Session: Tomorow!
Struggling to price your product profitably? 🍓🥤
Join the Foodpreneur Advantage Program for our upcoming session: Costing & Pricing to Make Profits.

This free, 60-minute virtual workshop is designed for food and beverage CPG entrepreneurs ready to price with confidence and protect their margins.

In this session, you’ll learn:
💡 How to accurately calculate your COGS
💰 Cash flow fundamentals to keep your business running smoothly
📈 Practical strategies for planning and building profit into your pricing

💡 Plus, connect and network with food and beverage entrepreneurs from across Ontario.

🗓 Thursday, April 30
⏰ 10:00 a.m.
🖥️ Live virtual session

👉 Register now (select Northumberland County ): https://becn.ca/programs/foodpreneur-advantage-program/

Ontario Agri-Food Venture Centre

04/21/2026

💻 Next Food & Beverage Training, with Foodpreneur Advantage this Thursday! It's not too late to register.

📈 Network and connect with other businesses across Ontario in this live, weekly, training session.

Pre-register here 👉https://becn.ca/programs/foodpreneur-advantage-program/

🚨 Next Training Session: This Thursday! 🚨
Looking to sell your food product with confidence? 🍓🥤
Join the Foodpreneur Advantage Program for our upcoming session: How to Sell Your Food Product

This free, 60-minute virtual workshop will help you take the next step in getting your product into the hands of customers—whether at markets, online, or in retail.

💡 Plus, connect and network with food and beverage entrepreneurs from across Ontario.

🗓 Thursday, April 23
⏰ 10:00 a.m.
🖥️ Live virtual session

👉 Register now (select Northumberland County): https://becn.ca/programs/foodpreneur-advantage-program/
Don’t miss it, this is where ideas start turning into sales.

Ontario Agri-Food Venture Centre

04/16/2026

Team Basoli Sauces are at it again! 😍🌶️🍅 We just can't get enough! Thanks Pam for sharing your adventures with us. We can't wait to see what's next.