Ep. 519: Better Food, Better Lives
Guest: James Donaldson, BC Food and Beverage
We all need to eat. The better the food, the better our lives.
“BC is a great place to grow and produce food,” says James Donaldson, the CEO of BC Food and Beverage. “But the sector is facing challenges.” Those challenges include financial, land, government rules and regulations, and weather.
The food and beverage industry is a substantial contributor to the BC economy. According to the “State of the Industry” report recently published by BC Food and Beverage, it accounts for “$14.2 billion in revenue [and] employs 39,000 people in 3,400 businesses and contributes $3.7 billion to provincial GDP.”
“Impressive numbers,” says Donaldson, “but the industry is stressed. In the past five years, costs have soared. Land, labour and raw materials are all up and at the same time, producers have been unable to raise prices in keeping cost increases.”
We invited James Donaldson, the CEO of BC Food and Beverage to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the challenges the industry faces in BC and paths to solutions that will ensure we have access to the food we need at prices we can afford.
Want to learn more about our guest?
Check out their profile on our partnered program, Careers That Matter!
