The word ‘Yorkton’ has become something of a selling point for a local firm accessing a potentially massive market.
TA Foods is now bottling cold pressed virgin flax oil under the label ‘Yorkton Flax Oil’. The label is for a particular distributor who is selling the product into the Chinese market.
“It’s one new label specifically for China,” said Michael Popowich, vice-president at TA Foods.
Popowich said Canadian products are trusted in China for quality, and the label simply builds on that, being a label specific to the city and of course country, to build on the already established trust of consumers there.
The selling point of being a product from Canada “is a big part of it,” in terms of attracting Chinese consumers, he said.
And attracting those consumers is a growing part of business for TA Foods.
“It’s a growing market for us for sure,” said Popowich, adding the entire Pacific region shows potential, although China leads the way.
Popowich noted the Chinese economy has slowed, but the sheer size of the market, for a product such as flax oil, still makes it lucrative in terms of export potential. He noted a single large Chinese city would be potentially the same market size as all of Western Canada.
“It’s potential, it’s definitely the biggest one,” he said, adding the health aspects of flax oil have helped carve out a market niche even as the economy there has slowed.
As it stands about 85 per cent TA Foods’ business by dollar value heads to export markets, with about half of those exports headed to the United States and half to countries in Asia, said Popowich.
The challenge though is building a market which is half a world away.
Popowich did note when it comes to their products TA Foods are doing everything here in Yorkton, from crushing the flax seed to extract the oil, to bottling the oil, to distributing it to markets worldwide.
To help facilitate those efforts the firm recently purchased the former Western Grocers building on Broadway Street in the city to use for warehousing, in particular the on-site cold storage for the oil.
Popowich said the company will not utilize the entire space, so they will be providing warehousing for other businesses as well.
The need for additional space reflects on the growth of TA Foods, which was recognized in 2015 when the firm was presented the ABEX award for Growth & Expansion Award by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce.
This year TA Foods are finalists for two ABEX awards; Export, and Priority Focus.
Priority Focus is the newest ABEX category and in its second year. The award is presented to a business which has gone above and beyond in demonstration of business excellence, in an area that mirrors a select Saskatchewan Chamber policy priority. This year the focus is on immigration.
Popowich said immigration has certainly been important to the firm with 17 or its current 22 employees coming to Canada from the Philippines. He noted that they started with half a dozen immigrant workers a few years ago, and those workers have helped provide key contacts when additional personnel were required.
Hopefully we’ve been good to them and they’ve been great for us,” he said.
