Food and Beverage Manufacturing

Brantford is a leader in food and beverage manufacturing. With a growing list of 20 companies in the sector employing approximately 2,300 people, we are a strategic centre in Ontario for new and expanding operations. These companies help form a significant food processing cluster in Canada.

Ontario is also one of North America's largest agri-food sectors. Companies locate here because they are close to more than 200 agricultural commodities and a market of 460 million consumers. Ontario is North America's second largest centre for food processing.

Investment in Brantford’s food and beverage industry makes good economic sense. This is most evident in our central and strategic location, available and experienced workforce, competitive wages, network of leading food and beverage manufacturers, and proximity to plentiful agricultural commodities.

2300 workers

2.7M sq. ft.

3000 producers

230 commodities

About 2,300 workers employed in the industry locally, and access to many more.

2.7 million square feet / 246,800 square metres of active production space locally, and growing.

Brantford is located at the centre of over 3,000 food producers in Ontario.

Access 8.9 million ac. / 3.6 million ha. producing over 230 agricultural commodities in Ontario.

We are proud of the many companies in this sector that call Brantford home. Below are some additional sectoral highlights.

Spotlight: Ferrero Canada Ltd./Ltée.

Ferrero Canada Ltd./Ltée

Investment: $600 million
Total Size: 1.5 million square feet / 139,400 square metres
Total Employees: 900

Ferrero Canada continues to invest in Brantford, Ontario because it's ideally situated to service North America, which is a strategic growth market for our company, and provides easy access to key suppliers and partners. The City of Brantford is highly supportive of our business and industry, and it has shown strong commitment and dedication in building a thriving economy. As a proud member of the community, our manufacturing presence and our ongoing investments allow us to be more forward-thinking so that we can look to build an effective end-to-end supply chain in Brantford.

Fabrizio Secco, (former) Managing Director, Industrial Division, Ferrero Canada Ltd./Ltée

Industry facts and figures

Brantford food and beverage manufacturing companies have access to superior, end-to-end supply chain solutions including processing, packaging, specialized storage, and transportation.
Brantford is centrally located to take advantage of 3000+ producers and 95,000 industry workers in Ontario.
The industry represents approximately $39B in revenue in Ontario.
3.6M hectares (8.9M acres) of Ontario cropland support the growth of over 230 agricultural commodities.

Local statistics

The food and beverage manufacturing sector in Brantford is a significant contributor to our local economy. Below are some key figures from our 2018 Industrial Survey.

Companies: 20 companies (estimated)
Total size : 2.7 million square feet or 206,000 square metres (estimated)
Employees: 2,300 people (estimated)

Major employers

Major employers

Company	Square Feet	Square Meters	Total Jobs
Aspire Bakeries	400,000	37,200	385
Dure Foods Limited	53,000	4,900	39
Ferrero Canada Ltd./Ltée	1,500,000	139,400	900
Grissin Bon Ltd.	35,000	3,300	15
Lohmann Tierzucht Canada	20,000	1,900	50
Normerica Inc.	40,000	3,700	70
Pillers Fine Foods	90,000	8,400	150
Treehouse Private Brands	144,000	13,400	404

Recent investments

Recent investments

Company	Investment Size square feet (square metres)	Investment Jobs	Investment Value ($)
Ferrero Canada Ltd./Ltée	40,000 (3,700)	40	$70.0 Million
Golden Mile Foods	92,700 (8,600)	N/A	$5.2 Million

NA: not available/applicable.

TBD: to be determined.

Note: investment values may be land purchases, building expansions, facility renovations, or equipment purchases. Jobs, values, and sizes do not necessarily correlate or represent a fixed ratio.