Join BCFB and your food & beverage peers for a relaxed social event at Vancouver Island Brewing designed to foster connections and build relationships within the community. During the event, you'll have the opportunity to engage in conversations, enjoy light appetizers and beverages, and meet new people!

Who Should Attend: 

• Food & beverage professionals within the community who are eager to expand their network and explore collaborations. 

Your event registration includes light appetizers and one drink

Thank you to our Title Sponsor 

If you are a Human Resources professional or play a key role in the HR in your business, come join your fellow BCFB peers in our HR Peer Group event.

The May 7th session will feature a 60-minute focus group facilitated by Maria Gonzalez with the HR Peer Group attendees followed by an opportunity to network. The purpose of the focus group is to gather input from participants on the topic of labour challenges within the BC food and beverage manufacturing industry.

.

Who Should Attend:

• Mid-senior level HR professionals in the food & beverage Industry
• Leaders, founders and owners who are responsible for HR

What to Expect:

• A facilitated group discussion to openly share ideas and seek advice from industry peers
• New industry insight and valuable knowledge 
• A community of support and new industry connections

May HR Peer Group: Focus Group 

BC Food and Beverage has engaged a group of industry consultants to conduct a research project to better understand the labour needs and obstacles encountered by the BC food and beverage industry. Specifically, the goals and objectives of the project are to identify:

• Existing labour challenges facing BC food and beverage manufacturers.
• Current and future labour needs of BC food and beverage manufacturers. 
• Potential actions that BCFB and other relevant stakeholders can implement to effectively address the labour challenges in the BC food and beverage industry.

The findings from this research study will inform the development of a comprehensive labour strategy that addresses the needs of the BC food and beverage industry. 

As part of this study, BCFB is seeking feedback from representatives like yourself regarding the labour challenges in the BC food and beverage industry. Therefore, we would like to invite you to a 1-hour focus group session. Your valuable insights and input during this focus group would contribute significantly to our efforts.

*Please note spaces are limited to 20 participants for this session*  

*Light refreshments and snacks will be served*

 2024 HR Peer Group Sponsor

Join us for an insightful webinar with FCC as their Senior Economist, Graeme Crosbie, shares the key information found in FCC's food & beverage report. 

Key takeaways:

• Understand the impact of food inflation on your costs and margins 
• Learn how consumer preferences and behaviours are shifting and what that means for your products and services 
• Compare your performance with industry benchmarks and best practices 
• Identify new markets and opportunities for growth and innovation

 Presented by:

• Graeme Crosbie is a Senior Economist at FCC. His focus areas include macroeconomic analysis and insights and monitoring and analyzing Canada’s food and beverage industries. Having grown up on a dairy farm in southern Saskatchewan, he occasionally comments on the health of the dairy industry in Canada. Graeme has been at FCC for 10 years, spending most of that time in risk management. Graeme holds a master of science in financial economics from Cardiff University and is a CFA charter holder. 

 2024 GROW Webinar Sponsor:

If you are a sales and marketing professional or play a key role in the sales and marketing in your business, come join your fellow BCFB peers in our first Sales & Marketing Peer Group event.

The May 22nd session will feature a short informative presentation by Christine De Biasio, Director of Business Development, and Julia Hendra, Brand Manager, with Agency Brand Management on how brands can attract and work with retailers to get on the shelf, gain trial and velocity followed by an open group discussion among peers to share experiences, challenges and ideas facilitated by Corwin Hiebert of Ethical Food Group and Kenny Vannucci of This Commerce Life podcast.

Who Should Attend:

• Mid-senior level sales & marketing professionals in the food & beverage Industry
• Leaders, founders and owners who are responsible for sales and marketing

What to Expect:

• A facilitated group discussion to openly share ideas and seek advice from industry peers
• New industry insight and valuable knowledge 
• A community of support and new industry connections

May Peer Group Key Learnings:

• Find the right Distributor partner – do your research, find a strong distributor partner who your key retailers work with 
• There is not one size fits all for your retail strategy 
  • Depends on brand, category, price, target audience 
• Prepare to invest in trade spend  (free fills, promotions, ads, flyers) especially in Y1 
• Field Intel – know how your brand is doing on shelf, build relationships with key store personnel, demo etc.  

Presenter:

• Christine De Biasio
  • Always interested in healthy living and nutrition, her introduction into the food and beverage industry began in 2013 working for one of Canada’s largest natural food brokers where she held a number of senior sales and retail leadership positions. Today, as Director of Business Development at Agency Brand Management, Christine prides herself on being a highly collaborative and results-driven professional and loves nothing more than working alongside progressive brands looking to make positive changes on shelves and the planet.
• Julia Hendra 
  • Julia Hendra is a skilled strategist committed to driving positive changes in the food industry. As a natural connector, she loves working alongside others to innovate and transform the status quo in the natural foods industry. She has a wealth of experience working for Canadian and US CPG brands across multiple categories. Beyond her CPG roles, she coordinated the UBC Feeding Growth Workshop series for Food Entrepreneurs in the 2019 season helping to bolster the local BC Food and Beverage Industry. She is currently a Brand Manager at Agency Brand Management focusing on strategy and growth for progressive, changemaking brands. 

*Please note spaces are limited to 20 participants for this session*  

*Light refreshments and snacks will be served*

*Exclusive to BCFB Members*

 2024 Sales & Marketing Peer Group Sponsor