New Artisanal Chicken Program
The Artisanal Chicken Program – Committed to Craftmanship
Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO) has announced a portfolio of new programs that will support expanded business opportunities for chicken farmers and offer Ontario consumers even more choice in accessing locally grown chicken. The new business opportunities were developed following the Board’s recent public and industry ‘Allocating Future Growth’ consultations, and include an Artisanal Chicken Program which will appeal to smaller, independent, family farmers looking to support local markets.
CFO is continually looking to meet the changing needs of Ontario chicken consumers and markets. These new programs will help farmers fill local food and seasonal markets and will give Ontario consumers more choice and options in how and where they buy locally grown chicken.
The new CFO programs were developed following six months of extensive public consultations during which the Board and its Team Ontario partners solicited input from farmers, the chicken processing sector, the retail food industry, members of the public and government stakeholders. CFO is focused on finding new ways to support the growth of a local chicken industry, increase job opportunities across the province and ultimately to provide fresh ideas to grow Ontario.
The Artisanal Chicken Program is directed at those farmers who are interested in growing between 600 and 3,000 chickens annually for select target markets such as local farmer markets.