From an unassuming downtown Winnipeg building, Cereals Canada runs a sophisticated technical and international market outreach operation in support of the nation’s multibillion-dollar grain industry.
Boasting pasta- and noodle-making facilities and a bakery and flour mill, it plays host to international delegations year-round, furthering the goal of multi-cultural use of the Canada’s high-quality premium grains.
This week, a group of industry professionals from Guatemala, El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Costa Rica were on hand for a crash course on the latest intel on baking and pasta making with Canadian wheat.
NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS
Cereals Canada CEO Dean Dias on the 12th floor of the group’s Main Street building, where it works to promote high-quality Canadian grains to customers around the world.
Anna Lucia Lopez, an official with Guatemalan multinational Corporacion Multi Inversiones, said her company buys wheat from Mexico, the U.S., Russia and Ukraine, as well as Canada, to make pasta, bread and cookies.
“We have been buying more and more Canadian wheat,” she said Thursday through an interpreter. “We’re very happy with Canadian wheat. It gives us a great product.”
A non-profit organization funded by its members from up and down the supply chain (it does not sell grain and it is not government funded), Cereals Canada provides pre-market promotion of the commodity and after-market support.
“We help align the Canadian value chain with what our customers will need for years to come. We are like a liaison between the Canadian value chain and their customers,” CEO Dean Dias said.
However, after 50 years in a Canadian government building, the lease is expiring and, for some time, it has been determined the facility has become outdated.
Later this fall, Cereals Canada will launch a capital campaign to raise $100 million to develop a purpose-built building. The project, called Global Agriculture Technology Exchange (GATE), has been in the works since 2009.
Among other things, said Elaine Sopiwnyk, Cereals Canada vice-president technical services, the current location allows only minimal ability to process oats and does not have the capacity to make couscous.
“North African countries are a big market for Canadian durum wheat (used to make couscous),” she said. “Being able to provide them with support is important.”
NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS
Cereals Canada promotes high-quality Canadian grains to customers across the world.
Although some producer groups have already voiced opposition to such a significant capital project, Dias said the project has strong support from his board, which is made up of equal numbers of producers and industry representatives.
“We have not invested for a long time,” the CEO said. “We’ve kept up with the state of the art, but just enough to be considered so. We need to be up to date with the next generation of what our international customers are doing.”
Despite the sophistication of the equipment on hand, the dated fittings and narrow hallways of the Main Street facility bear a bit of tired look.
“Industry wants customers to come and be trained and briefed in proper fashion,” Dias said. “Canadian wheat is a high-quality, premium product. We want to be able to showcase to our customers that the support and service we provide is also premium and high quality.
“The vision for the new facility is there and we have a lot of support.”
It is a busy operation: between 2021 and 2023, it undertook 81 programs, with more than 3,000 participants from 69 countries.
Canadian grain is exported to 80 countries around the world and while the majority of it is grown in the Prairies, wheat is grown in every province. Processing also takes place across the country, Dias said, but Cereals Canada wants the GATE project to be built in Winnipeg, ideally in the same neighborhood the organization currently resides in.
“It’s been in downtown Winnipeg for 50 years,” he said. “The area is considered to be a grain hub and we would like to continue to work here for next 50 years. It’s strategic.
NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS
Cereal Canada end products technician Jared Ozuk slices a fresh loaf of bread Thursday.
“There are lots of national organizations that we collaborate with (also based in Winnipeg) and some of the major grain companies are in the area. When customers come to Cereals Canada from around the world, they need that interaction between buyers and sellers and the highly skilled technical team at Cereals Canada.”
Dias said a new building location has yet to be finalized. “As we go through the capital campaign process, things will become clear.”
Cereals Canada will be seeking project funding from members, government, agri-businesses and producers.
“Anyone who can see benefit from the agricultural industry,” he said.
Martin Cash
Reporter
Martin Cash is a business reporter/columnist who’s been on that beat for the Free Press since 1989. He’s a graduate of the University of Toronto and studied journalism at Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan University). Read more about Martin.
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