B.C. doles out grant funding to bolster food manufacturing sector

The B.C. government is contributing $6.6 million in grant funding to food manufacturing firms across the province, saying it will help create jobs and bolster domestic food security. 

Jobs Minister Diana Gibson says money from the province's manufacturing jobs fund will go to seven B.C. companies, including $2 million to Kelowna-based Farming Karma Fruit Co. for a new processing facility and equipment.

Thank you, Simolo Customs, for the tour of your manufacturing operations in #Vernon.

We are supporting local B.C. businesses through the B.C. Manufacturing Jobs Fund to help them grow, explore new markets, and create new jobs here in British Columbia. 🇨🇦#BCJobs #StrongerBC pic.twitter.com/ng6guV8usc

— Diana Gibson (@Diana_Gibson_BC) March 18, 2025

Gibson says the funding will help create 32 jobs in Kelowna, while other firms receiving funding include One Degree Organic Foods in Mission, which makes cereals and other products from non-genetically modified ingredients. 

The minister says investing in the province's food manufacturing sector is crucial to strengthening the B.C. economy, while it's under threat of "unjustified" tariffs from the United States. 

The Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food say in a statement that Surrey's Prabu Foods Inc., a vegetarian snack food company, is getting $662,000 to more than quadruple its production capacity. 

The statement says other firms getting funding include North Delta Seafoods, Trafa Pharmaceuticals, Brown's Bay Packing Co. in Campbell River and VitaminLab in Victoria.