Alberta is a land of agri-food opportunities awaiting new entrepreneurs … but do they have what it takes?

Hunger for Success

Jun 1, 2010  

by Stephanie Sparks

“We have lots of small companies that are looking at new ways of providing products,” he says. “Some of them aren’t too sophisticated in the products that they’re developing, but they’re new and unique, and it’s a starting place for them to build their business and work forward.”

The husband-and-wife team of Ravenwood Farm Fresh Meats in Caroline is certainly unique, and while they didn’t start out with a firm business plan, they are making formidable business expansions. What started out in 2007 as a side project for Tamara Taylor to bring in some extra income using her animal science degree from the University of Saskatchewan as she stayed home to raise her two young boys has become the Taylors’ sole income; husband Mark quit his full-time job at a research crop station in November 2008 to fully commit himself to the growing business that includes raising Berkshire pigs and other animals for meat they process in their on-site butcher shop (slaughter is done off site), delivering the product throughout central Alberta and running their own shop. They have even added a second cooler for wild game meat, and are expanding to attract more gourmet restaurant customers.

“It grew quickly and we never really set out with this point in mind,” says Tamara. “We just evolved as we saw the opportunity present itself.”

The Taylors started the entrepreneurial business alone, but along with joining the AFPA, they sought advice from Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development prior to expanding their butcher shop. It’s a personal goal that inspires a person to enter the agri-food industry, or in the Taylors’ case a need to keep building on the business, and an entrepreneurial drive to get started. After that, industry and government are there to offer help if needed.

“I think newcomers have to make it easier for themselves,” says Rocco Suriano, partner of the family-owned Let’s Pasta Food Services Ltd. in Lethbridge. Suriano, his father, two uncles and a cousin started Let’s Pasta on their own – as a restaurant in 1994 before opening a plant to produce its own pastas and sauces. “The resources are there, everything’s at your fingertips. Through technology today, it’s easy to access a lot of information. As an entrepreneur with a bit of initiative, you need to get the information on your own. It’s not a babysitting service that the Alberta government offers.”

Siwin’s Qiang Lin is certainly grateful for the help his company has received in Alberta. The longer he’s in the agri-foods business, the more he values it. “If you are new, you don’t understand everything … because you don’t know what’s the value from the help. But if you have a very strong background for the food industry, you definitely know the value of the help.”

The Alberta government and industry are working together to attract new entrepreneurs to agri-foods, but whether or not the business succeeds depends heavily on the will of the entrepreneur, drawn to Alberta’s agri-food industry for reasons of their own.

“There’s just a lot of opportunity that’s available to people willing to look outside the box,” says Tamara Taylor, “and especially young families that are looking for flexibility to stay home with their families and still have a viable business.”

As for Paganelli, healthier than ever, she expects to complete the transition of moving Drinkme to Alberta by the end of the year. “It’s more expensive coming from Manitoba … but the opportunity to grow a business in Alberta is just an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

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