Jul 30, 2019

Jasper Wyman & Son gets government funding for blueberry sorter

Government funding will help Canadian wild blueberry company Jasper Wyman & Son install blueberry sorting equipment. The company is located on Prince Edward Island.

Canadian officials recently announced over $971,000 in funding to Jasper Wyman & Son Canada Inc. under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, AgriInnovate Program.

Minister MacAulay also announced an additional repayable contribution of $500,000 from the Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency’s Business Development Program. The Government of Prince Edward Island will provide a $194,000 grant through Innovation PEI to assist with the project.

This funding will be used to install new equipment to more efficiently and precisely sort produce, while removing up to 99% of defective berries. The project will help Jasper Wyman & Son Canada Inc. grow exports and sales, increase processing capacity, reduce water and energy consumption and hire additional staff.

In a press release, VP and Chief Financial Officer Robert Mancini thanked officials “for their continued support of our quest to expand wild blueberry exports and create high-paying jobs in Canada.”

“This investment will be used to fund state-of-the-art processing technology that will enhance our ability to meet ever-increasing global customer demands for exceptional quality,” Mancini said. “Through strong collaboration with both the federal and provincial governments, we have been able to continuously research and test innovative processing technologies in an attempt to deliver the highest quality wild blueberry product in the industry.”

In 2018 blueberries were Canada’s most valuable fruit export making up 58% of total fruit exports with a farm gate value of over $243 million.

Jasper Wyman & Son Canada and its parent company, make up the second-largest supplier of wild blueberries in the world. The company farms about 1,200 acres of wild blueberries in Canada.