By Michelle Poirier [1]
BELLEVILLE – Two local grocery stores are participating in a pilot project to promote foods produced in the Quinte area.
“The Proudly Made in Bay of Quinte Program [2] is an initiative to promote and celebrate the manufactured products from this region,” said Chris King, chief executive officer of the Quinte Economic Development Commission. “Our region has a lot of manufacturing and a lot of food processing, and we want to promote the fact that a lot of the products are made here.”
Smylie’s Your Independent Grocer [3] in Trenton and Dewe’s Your Independent Grocer [4] in Belleville are the two stores participating.
Local manufacturers being featured at the stores include Reid’s Dairy [5], Hawkins Cheezies [6], Rachel’s Tarts [7], Sprague Foods [8], Kellogg’s [9], Ivanhoe Cheese [10], High Line Mushrooms [11] and Mill Creek Farms [12].
“When the consumer walks in and they’re making a decision and thinking about which product to buy, hopefully they’ll select the locally made one because it’s going to help local companies and maybe support their family, friends or neighbours that are working in the manufacturing sector,” King said.
Sales are picking up in the featured areas already, John Smylie, owner of Smylie’s Your Independent Grocer, said.
“When we started looking at it we were actually quite surprised at the number of manufacturers that manufacture food products locally,” he said. “I’ve received a number of comments from people – comments ranging from ‘We like the items being highlighted so we know that they are made here’ to ‘I was surprised this was made here.’ I think it’s a great program.”
The project started on Sept. 15 and if it’s successful after six months, the Quinte Economic Development Commission is going to re-evaluate and try to get other stores involved.