An online market for Pontiac food products

An online market for Pontiac food products

The MRC Pontiac announced yesterday that it launched an online market to promote products from local farmers and producers, called FlavoursofthePontiac. The initiative is made possible thanks to a financial contribution of $ 68,000 through the Support Fund for the Outreach of the Regions (FARR) of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MAMH), the MRC of Pontiac, in partnership with SADC Pontiac.

This virtual market was created as part of phase 1 of the “Pontiac regional agricultural market” project. Visitors can explore and purchase products directly from local producers with the help of the “Local Line” platform.

The next phase of the project is to assess the viability of a public market in the MRC Pontiac, by using the online market, and possibly open a physical market in a central location in the territory. This initiative reaffirms the MRC’s commitment to support the agricultural sector and responds to the orientations of the Development Plan for the agricultural zone.

“Although an online marketplace was not part of this initially funded project, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an immediate and prolonged impact on our farming community. We recognized the need to pivot and develop a solution to help our growers reach their customers. The FlavoursofthePontiac site allows you to buy local products in a secure and online environment, “said Cyndy Phillips, director of economic development for the MRC.

Pontiac producers are invited to contact Chakib Ahmimed (c.ahmimed@mrcpontiac.qc.ca), the economic development commissioner of the MRC who is leading this project, in order to register for the service. Users will be able to create an online store for their products on the “Local Line” platform, and promote their products through the “Flavours of the Pontiac” network. The MRC, with the SADC Pontiac, will support producers in the creation of their site and will finance the registration to “Local Line” for their first year of activity on the site.

The Flavours of the Pontiac Facebook and Instagram pages have also been set up.