Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council

Consumers wanting to know where their food comes from may soon have a new tool at their disposal. Ernie McIvor is hoping to launch a new third party program called Origin Of that will enable consumers to trace ingredients of retail food products.

With funding from the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP), McIvor conducted a feasibility study which confirmed a need for the program. Together with his business partners, Peter Yourchenko and Don Snow, McIvor has now proceeded into the development stage, which is also receiving CAAP funding.  

Current traceability initiatives are missing a key piece of the puzzle, says McIvor. “They’re forgetting about the final consumer. They’re not doing anything to let consumers know where their products are coming from,” he says.

McIvor and Snow recently started a company called Totally Organic Beverages. They decided the best way to promote their organic vodka product would be to have some kind of certification on it stating where it came from. “We did some research and discovered there’s nothing like this available right now,” says McIvor. “So we decided to develop a verification program ourselves. Not only is this a great opportunity for us, but a great service to the public.”

This doesn’t mean that every product has to be North American, notes McIvor. “The example we like to use is cinnamon. You want your cinnamon to come from Sri Lanka because that country produces the best cinnamon in the world,” he says. “There’s nothing wrong with products coming from other countries. But knowledge is valuable. Equip consumers with knowledge and then they can make their own educated decision.”  

Consumers will receive this knowledge via a QR code. “We will obtain the product information from the participating companies and verify it,” explains McIvor. “Then we will design a QR code, containing the information, which will be visible on the product along with the program’s logo.” From there, consumers will be able to scan the QR code with their smartphones and be taken to a website with the information, he adds.   

This will require consumers to have a smartphone and be familiar with the QR code technology, but that doesn’t concern McIvor. He’s confident smartphone usage is growing and more people are becoming familiar with QR codes. Consumers will also be able to input the product’s UPC number to access the same information.

McIvor realizes that it’s impossible to have all participating food products display the Origin Of logo and QR code immediately so he’s hoping to work with the retail stores to have product information displayed on store shelves.

McIvor believes this project will benefit Manitoba farmers and the local rural economy. Consumers will be able to easily identify where the food is produced and to purchase local food products when possible. And this will give local companies a competitive edge in the marketplace, he adds.

“This will be a great tool for consumers who have food safety concerns. They can choose food products from countries that have food safety standards they trust,” says McIvor.

McIvor is hoping to test the program with 20 to 25 local food companies in Manitoba later this fall.

Funding for these projects has been provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program. In Manitoba, this program is delivered by the Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council.

~ By Teresa Falk, MRAC Communications Officer