Saskatchewan Agri-Food Value Chain Initiative

A value chain is a business model based on collaboration. An agri-food value chain is a partnership between producers, processors and marketers created to improve quality, increase efficiencies and develop and market differentiated products to make all partners more profitable. A value chain occurs when companies need to collaborate to improve quality, increase systems efficiencies, or develop differentiated products to achieve a more rewarding position in the marketplace.

A value chain allows members to be more competitive and react quickly to the ever changing demands in today’s retail grocery and foodservice industries. The process includes seeking market opportunities and linking production and processing requirements to capture value-added and new market opportunities.

The value chain, not the individual company, is the unit of competition. Three key attributes of value chains include:

1. Strategy: Focus on creating value for your customer and consumer through product and process innovations and developing differentiated products.
2. Capabilities: Chain partners assemble existing and new skills and capacities to deliver enhanced value.
3. Relationships: Strategic relationships are formed between partners who link capabilities and become an integral asset that can’t be bought or sold.

These combined attributes result in a strengthened competitive advantage that is unique and benefits all value chain partners.

The goal of a value chain is increased profits for value chain partners, as they capitalize on market opportunities and deliver quality products that consumers demand, moving from a price-sensitive, commodity production business model to a value driven model.

A Value Chain can help your business by:

The Saskatchewan Grocery Retail and Foodservice Value Chain Initiative was designed by Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan Inc. (ACS) with the vision of encouraging and assisting Saskatchewan’s agri-food industry to become more competitive and provide solutions for today’s consumer, providing value added products within value chain development. The program identified key areas to assist in the growth of Saskatchewan’s agri-food industry:

Saskatchewan Grocery Retail Value Chain Program (click here)

The Saskatchewan Grocery Retail Value Chain Initiative was designed to assist the Saskatchewan agriculture and agri-food industry in developing the capacities and tools needed to capture new value added market opportunities. The introduction of the grocery retail guides was designed to develop a better understanding of what the Canadian grocery retail industry is and how it operates. It focuses on capacity building to provide the innovation that is desired in today’s Grocery Industry.

Grocery Retail Guides

Below are the various Grocery Retail Guides that have been developed.

• Size Demographic Characteristics and Customer Profiles
• Canadian Grocery Segments and Operators in Canada
• Key Trends That Are Driving the Canadian Grocery Industry
• Brand Building and Private Label Brands
• Sales Strategies for the Grocery Industry by Market Channel or Segment
• Brokers and Distributors: Who are they? How do they operate?
• Grocery Industry “Supplier” Based Category Management
• Retail Programs – What Are They? What Do They Cost? How Do They Work?
• Costing Programs and Pricing Strategies
• Development, Preparation and Completion of Presentations
• Promotional Programs and Marketing Support
• Account Maintenance How Not To Be Category Managed Off the Shelf

Grocery Retail Private Label Industry Guide




Developed by Canadian grocery retail consultants, this guide is a source of information for the Saskatchewan agriculture and agri-food industry to better understand the Canadian grocery retail private label industry and act as a reference guide throughout the process of engaging the industry.

This guide includes information on the following areas:

1. The Canadian grocery retail private label industry—what is it, size, demographic characteristics, customer profile, etc.
2. Key trends that are driving the growth of the private label industry.
3. Understanding how the grocery retail private label works.
4. National grocery private label programming.
5. Understanding private label programming.
6. Cost programs—how they work?
7. Category management planning for private label.
8. Understanding the size of the Canadian grocery retail private label industry, statistics reports, etc.

Saskatchewan Foodservice Value Chain Program (click here)

The Saskatchewan Foodservice Value Chain Initiative was designed to assist the Saskatchewan agriculture and agri-food industry to develop the capabilities and tools needed to capture new value added market opportunities and provide solutions to operational challenges within the Canadian foodservice industry. The foodservice guides were developed to provide a path of understanding within the Canadian foodservice industry and provide the process of understanding the needs of the foodservice provider.

Foodservice Retail Guides

Below are the various Foodservice Retail Guides that have been developed.

• Scope and Scale
• Industry Trends: Key Drivers
• Understanding the Foodservice Operator
• Understanding the Foodservice Distributor
• Selling to the Foodservice Industry

Foodservice Private Label Industry Guide




Developed by Canadian foodservice consultants, The Canadian Foodservice Private Label Guide is a source of information for the Saskatchewan agriculture and agri-food industry to better understand the Canadian foodservice private label industry and act as a reference guide throughout the process of engaging the industry.

The Canadian Foodservice Private Label Guide includes information on the following areas:

1. The Canadian Foodservice Private Label Industry –What is it, size demographic characteristics, customer profile, etc.
2. Key trends that are driving the growth of the Canadian Foodservice Label Industry
3. Understanding the How in the Canadian Foodservice Private Label Programming
4. Cost programs –how do they work?
5. Canadian Foodservice Distributor Private Label Programming
6. Canadian Foodservice National Chain Private Label Programming
7. Regional Foodservice Chain Private Label Programming
8. Understanding the size of the Canadian Foodservice Private Label Industry, statistics, reports, etc.

Practical Guide to Value Chains in Canada (click here)




In Canada, most companies in the agri-food industry perform only a fraction of the 200-300 activities required to produce, market and deliver a product. In order to develop a sustainable, competitive advantage, many organizations enter into both formal and informal associations with a number of related or associated companies who mutually support each other in trying to deliver a product or service to an end-user while making a profit along the way. This alliance is called a value chain.

Go-To-Market Guide (click here)

Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan (ACS) engaged fsStrategy Inc. to create the Foodservice Go-to-Market Template. This is part of efforts to support the agriculture and agri-food industry and develop the capacity and tools to allow food growers and processors to enter the foodservice industry.

The purpose of the Foodservice Go-to-Market Template is to provide food growers and processors with a better understanding of the Foodservice Industry and how to tap into business opportunities within it.

The template consists of three documents:







Click the cover images to open each book (will open as FlippingBook documents in your browser – requires Adobe Flash Player).

 

The authors of the above documents, fsStrategy Inc., is an alliance of senior consultants focusing on business strategy support—research, analysis, innovation and implementation—for the foodservice industry and have extensive consulting experience in foodservice across Canada. Acknowledgements to: Geoff Wilson, President; Jeff Dover, Vice-President; and Andrew Waddington, Vice-President.

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