About The Sector
Food and Beverage Processing
Food and beverage manufacturing is the largest manufacturing sector in Manitoba, accounting for 32 percent of Manitoba's total manufacturing sales in 2023. Total food and beverage manufacturing sales in 2023 reached $8.4 billion, 4.4 percent higher than the previous year. The sector directly employed 16,825 Manitobans in 2023 and is the largest manufacturing employer in the province.
Productive farmland suitable for the production of various crops and animals, access to state of the art research facilities and world-class transportation infrastructure, available highly skilled labour, and a business-friendly environment make Manitoba a unique place to invest in food and beverage processing.
The Manitoba food and beverage manufacturing industry is vastly diverse. Manitoba produces a wide variety of food products ranging from potato products to meat, grain and oilseed products - including primary and secondary processing.
Major food processors in Manitoba include:
- Meat products (Maple Leaf Foods, Hylife Foods, True North Foods, Exceldor Cooperative, and Sunrise Farms)
- Grains and Oilseeds (Bunge Canada, Viterra, Richardson Milling, Roquette and Emerson Milling Inc.)
- Potato (McCain Foods and Simplot Canada Ltd.)
- Dairy Products (Lucerne Foods, Groupe Lactalis, Dairyworld Foods, and MDI Holdings Corp.)
Exports for processed food and beverage products stood at $4.51 billion in 2023, an increase of 9.5 percent over the previous year. This accounts for 53.7 percent of the total food manufacturing sales in 2023. Manitoba top exports in 2023 include pork and canola oil, with the top four markets being United States, Japan, Mexico and China.
Visit the Markets and Statistics section to view food and value added agriculture reports and statistics.
