Province interested in expanding cold storage on P.E.I.

The P.E.I. government is looking at expanding cold storageon the Island.

"Infrastructure is critical to continued growth in the food sector and access to quality and affordable cold storage options has been identified as a potential limiting factor specifically in the Prince County area,"according to an email Wednesday from a government spokesperson.

Request for Expressions of Interest

The province has issued a Request for Expressions of Interestto identify members of the private sector or development groups that might be interested in developing andoperating a publiccold storage facility.

Shane MacDougall, the director of business development with Innovation PEI, said over the years they have been hearing from businesses in the area that there is not enough cold storage capacity. MacDougall said they mainly heard from the seafood industry, but also from blueberry growers and bait fisheries.

More product stored off Island than on

MacDougall said a recent environment scan done by Beck Consulting Group for Innovation PEI and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries shows that the cold storage capacity on the Island isabout 22.5 million pounds. The report shows another approximate 27.5 million pounds of P.E.I.product is stored off Island and then much of that comes back to P.E.I. to be processed.

"The current system is inefficient for the companies and it is a lost opportunity for the province to keep the storage fees and infrastructure here," the government said in an emailed statement.

"Increasing cold storage capacity in the province will eliminate an obstacle for many of our existing food processors and allow for further growth of new food related start ups."

Goal of 5 million pounds capacity

MacDougall said the government has not made any decisions about funding, but they will be willing toinvest if there's a good opportunity.

Their goal is to have at least five million pounds of capacity added to the Island, which MacDougall said would be about 10,000 square-feet.

MacDougall says this addition would be for contract cold storage, so companies that need storage can rent it.

The request for expressions of interest is open until Jan. 27, 2017.

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