By Lilian Schaer for Agricultural Adaptation Council
For more than 40 years, Roothams Gourmet Preserves has been cooking up Canadian-made flavour in a bottle. From jams and chutneys to hot sauces, BBQ sauces, and relishes, the Guelph-based company has built a reputation for quality, creativity, and supporting local farmers.
In recent years, Roothams has also become a vital partner to other local food entrepreneurs, co-packing products for about 70 different Canadian food businesses – many of them small, family-run operations. These companies rely on Roothams to turn their recipes into safe, high-quality products for buyers ranging from local shops to national retailers and overseas markets.
A large segment of Roothams business is also processing for farm partners, letting them leverage surplus or unmarketable produce into saleable products.
Their success has led to production bottlenecks – which they’ve been able to overcome thanks to support from the Agri-Tech Innovation Initiative (ATII), a federal and provincial government funding program to expand production capacity and boost energy efficiency in the agriculture and food sector.
“We were trying to increase our production capacity to meet the demand for our services,” says owner Will Rootham-Roberts. “Our filling machine – the piece of equipment that pours jams, sauces, or syrups into jars and bottles – could only handle so much.”
A decade ago, Roothams was still filling bottles by hand. By 2018, the company invested in a two-nozzle filler with automatic capping and labelling, then expanded to four nozzles in 2021. But even with that upgrade, the machine was running at top speed, eight hours a day, just to keep up with demand.
And with so many of their clients expanding into big-name retailers like Loblaws, Sobeys, Metro, Costco, and Walmart, plus export markets like the U.S., U.K., and Japan, Roothams needed more capacity. The solution: double again and move from four filling heads to eight.
The ATII funding helped the company find and customize a fully integrated filling system that can handle chunky products like chutneys and relishes, as well as smooth liquids like honey and syrups, all with quick and easy cleaning between batches.
The system is also digital and highly automated, replacing tasks that once had to be done manually. That makes it easier for staff to use, more versatile, and far more efficient.
“This system is completely unique. Our productivity is already up 40%, with double the output possible using the same amount of labour,” notes Rootham-Roberts. “And that doesn’t just help us, it also helps our clients. With lower overhead costs and faster turnaround, they can be more competitive and meet growing demand. As Roothams grows, our clients can grow as well.”
These companies now have access to advanced, certified food processing that was once out of reach. That means more Ontario-made products hitting both domestic and international markets – from independent shops to high-profile opportunities like producing hot sauces featured on the popular U.S. show Hot Ones.
The ATII program provided 50% cost-share funding, making it easier for a small business like Roothams to invest in high-tech equipment with confidence.
“The program was easy to apply for and really well run,” he added. “Without the funding, we would have been hesitant to move ahead. It was a big investment, but the results speak for themselves.”
By choosing Canadian fabricators and suppliers for the project, Roothams also made sure their project dollars stayed in the country, further supporting jobs and skills development here at home.
“Innovation like this helps level the playing field for local food businesses,” says Rootham-Roberts. “We’re proud to be part of a food system that gives Ontario products a competitive edge – not just here at home, but around the world.”
The Agri-Tech Innovation Initiative, delivered by the Agricultural Adaptation Council, is funded in part by the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP), a 5-year, federal-provincial-territorial initiative.
Through ATII, the governments of Canada and Ontario are investing up to $22.6 million to expand production capacity and boost energy efficiency in the agriculture and food sector.
This investment supports the Grow Ontario Strategy’s objectives of increasing production and consumption of food grown and prepared in the province by 30 per cent by 2032 and boosting the economic impact of Ontario’s food and beverage manufacturing sector by 10 per cent.