Backers in the agrifood industry are aiming to have program ready this fall.Ottawa—A lot of behind the scenes work has gone into an agrifood industry led initiative to make the Canada Brand a draw to consumers around the world. The goal is to have the strategy ready for whomever forms the government after the October federal election.With support from Canada 2020, David McInnes, former president and CEO of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, has been conducting workshops across the country to build a consensus on what is needed to make the Canada Brand a world leader.Called The Canada Food Brand Project, McInnes said the meetings were intended “to bring together the ideas and people who can pull this initiative together.”So far, it has the backing of Food & Consumer Products of Canada, Genome Canada, National Research Council, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph, GS1 Canada, Olds College, Protein Industries Canada and Syngenta. “We are reaching out to all sectors of the food system to join us.”The Canada Brand has to stand as a credible source of food produced in a sustainable and safe manner if it's to make Canadian products a must have for consumers around the world, he said.The Canada Brand was created in 2006 as a vehicle to make foreign consumers more aware of Canadian food products and take advantage of positive international perceptions of Canada.Last fall, Kathleen Donohue, Director General of the Market Access Secretariat at Agriculture Canada, told the Senate agriculture committee that funding for the program was chopped in 2014 by the former government leaving it as a basic framework for the more than 700 Canadian small- and medium-sized enterprises and national industry associations that are members of the Canada Brand program.Still it left enough of a good taste in the agrifood industry that support for reviving it as part of the campaign to boost Canadian agrifood exports to at least $75 billion by 2025 is growing, McInnes said.Last September and October, a series of roundtables were held in Ottawa to discuss whether it was time to launch a relevant, useful version of the Canada Brand, said McInnes, who now is a senior fellow with Canada 2020, took charge of the exercise.Additional meetings were held in Ottawa in December buoyed by the release of the agrifood strategy table report in September that called for a strong and coordinated brand to increase the profile for Canadian agrifood products both at home and abroad.This month there were will sessions in Olds, Alberta and Saskatoon to expand discussions and search for new partners in the initiative. In March the discussions will return to Ottawa with further ones planned for April and May and September in locations still to be determined.However a key step will come in late May or early June when the organizers “stand back and think about what we've heard,” McInnes said. This exercise will set the stage for a national forum in early November on the shape of the Canada Brand plan to be presented to the government.McInnes said everyone in the food system is being asked whether a renewed Brand is the way to go to seize Canada's agrifood potential that has been highlighted in the 2016 Barton Report, the strategy table document and countless others forums.This project will focus on how best to support the brand in the domestic and global marketplace, he said. Australia, New Zealand and Europe are also trying to position themselves as the world's top food provider.Throughout the international food supply chain, companies and countries are taking steps to show their food production is sustainable, McInnes said. “With a growing global population, increasing demand for quality food and rising consumer expectations about how food is produced, food systems everywhere are being challenged to respond.”The Canadian industry has to decide whether it's ready to promote its natural advantages and positive reputation, he said. “Are we ready as a country to come together to support the Canada Brand.”Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.