About Us

The VCMC is Canada’s only initiative dedicated to improving the profitability and competitiveness of businesses operating in the agri-food sector, through promoting and enabling the development of closely-aligned value chains. It achieves this by collaborating with Canadian and international researchers, businesses, governments and practitioners to undertake action research, share lessons learnt and identify factors impacting the performance of agri-food and agri-product value chains.

Value chain analysis uncovers factors that impact the performance of businesses and which would be invisible if the research did not reflect the overall chain and the environment within which it operates. The VCMC translates insights acquired through academically rigorous research and analysis into education and training initiatives, designed to increase the management expertise of businesses operating in the agri-food sector. VCMC also works closely with government and industry associations to increase the competencies of stakeholders in relation to value chain formation and management. This includes partnering with industry stakeholders to identify the impact of policy and legislation on the performance of closely-aligned value chains, and recommending modifications that would assist their creation and sustainability.

The VCMC works with businesses of all sizes - from sole proprietors through to multi-nationals, whether they want to partner in new chains, or are looking to improve the performance of an existing chain. Our clients include businesses that have added millions of dollars to their bottom line and achieved outcomes that they never imagined possible. Some have doubled their profitability in as little as 18 months. We are proud to have collaborated with some of the world’s leading innovators and researchers on projects relating to value chain development, lean process improvement, co-innovation and strategic business development. The VCMC team is also proud to have participated in value chain initiatives that received national and international awards of excellence.