Manitoba's only food hub connects farmers with wholesale buyers

Rosanna Hempel · CBC News

· Posted: Aug 20, 2026 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: August 20

The federal government aims to lower grocery prices through a strategy that includes spending $1 billion on food infrastructure, such as wholesale marketplaces known as food hubs and food terminals.

But Manitoba's only food hub questions how those additional hubs and terminals will balance fair prices for local farmers while lowering your bill at checkout.

Farmers hauled in bags and boxes of carrots, chard and tomatoes, along with herbs and edible flowers, at Fireweed Food Co-op's Fife Street warehouse Tuesday.

Fireweed's hub aggregates food from about 30 farmers and producers across Manitoba, northern Ontario and Nunavut. It distributes the products to wholesale buyers in the city, including organizations, restaurants and schools, co-chair Katie Daman said.

Its model prioritizes working with local small farms committed to sustainable practices.

"I think a food hub is a great solution to meeting the needs of farmers to increase access to local markets," Daman said.

"I think the growth of our food hub demonstrates the potential of increasing the local food sector in Manitoba and increasing both access to it as well as interest in it."

Fireweed's hub launched in 2020, four years after Daman and five others founded the co-op, which also runs a pay-what-you-can mobile market known as the Veggie Van, along with the South Osborne Farmers' Market.

The co-op formed after hearing some producers didn't know where to continue selling their food after the farmers' market season ended, Daman said. At the same time, buyers were expressing interest in buying and supporting local in the off-season.

Items such as eggs and pork are priced comparably with what is offered in major grocery stores, but others vary depending on the farm, she said.

The hub has helped farms save about 23 hours a week on administrative and marketing work since it was founded, the co-op's internal surveys suggest.

It has also facilitated an increase in a farm's sales by an average of 18 per cent annually, said Bryn Friesen Epp, the co-op's supplier and warehouse co-ordinator. July was the hub's highest grossing month so far, they said.

The hub model helps enhance the creativity of the local food scene while diversifying what farmers grow, Friesen Epp said.

The hub offers everything from bison meat, beans and lentils to Arctic char sourced from Nunavut and foraged Manitoba chanterelle mushrooms.

"Manitoba produces a lot more than I think a lot of people realize," Friesen Epp said.

More food hubs and terminals by 2028

The federal government plans to build or expand 10 additional food hubs and two food terminals, which are bigger than hubs, as part of its food security strategy. It committed $3.2 billion over a decade to help make food more affordable and produce more of it in Canada.

Food hubs and food terminals are wholesale marketplaces that allow independent grocers and restaurants to buy food at competitive prices from farmers and producers, instead of purchasing through supply chains owned by large retailers, which dominate about 75 per cent of the grocery industry.

The Ontario Food Terminal in Toronto is the only one of its kind in Canada. Grocers from as far away as Atlantic Canada and Manitoba get produce from the terminal, including Food Fare in Winnipeg.

Owner Munther Zeid has previously told CBC News it's one of the cheapest places to buy produce, saving up to 20 per cent compared with purchasing from local wholesalers.

Sylvain Charlebois, director of Dalhousie University's Agri‑Food Analytics Lab, called the hubs critical for provinces such as Manitoba, saying more hubs and terminals could help increase competition, thereby stabilizing prices.

"Farmers won't grow something unless they know they have a market for their product, and right now, Manitoba is very much focused on international markets," Charlebois said last week.

But with hubs, "You basically shift that focus a little bit more towards domestic needs."

Prioritizing smaller farms key: co-op founder

Daman was excited to see the strategy but says smaller food hubs like Fireweed's might be excluded from funding opportunities, despite having the potential to scale up.

Options considered for Manitoba shouldn't forget mid- to small-scale farms, which already face cost pressures, she said.

"If there is demand for a hub [in Manitoba], then absolutely, we should build it. I do question whether that will meet the needs of small-scale farmers right now," Daman said, adding consultations with farmers would help clarify what direction the province should take.

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"I am hopeful that in the question of affordability that there is also a conversation about how farmers can continue to receive fair prices for their products."

Mid- to small-scale farms made up about 78 per cent of Canada's 205,000 farms, a 2015 provincial report says.

As of 2021, the number of farms had dropped to below 190,000, as the industry consolidated and struggled to attract the younger generation, Statistics Canada says.

Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn has previously said the province is closely following the rollout of the strategy.

The locations of the hubs and terminals will be decided on an application basis after the federal government finalizes eligibility and timelines this fall for the fund that will support them, a federal spokesperson said.

WATCH | A look at Manitoba's only food hub: