Originally Written by Bernard Tobin and Published Mat 22, 2026 by realagriculture.
Competing in global commodity markets is a race Canada can’t win long-term, says Ted Bilyea, former executive vice-president of Maple Leaf Foods and distinguished fellow with the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI).
In this episode of Ag Policy Connection, Bilyea says that Canada’s advantage lies in differentiation — creating food products consumers specifically want and are willing to pay more for — and then scaling those innovations quickly before competitors catch up.
Bilyea points to Canada’s chilled pork exports to Japan as a clear example. He recounts how Maple Leaf Foods helped pioneer chilled pork shipments to Asia, building a premium market by focusing on product quality, genetics, feed rations, and traceability.
“We moved into a category in Japan for the first time where we had no competitors,” Bilyea says, describing it as moving from a commodity market into “white space.”
That differentiation extended back to the farm level, including selecting genetics with more marbling, and feeding barley instead of corn to improve appearance and eating quality. Those choices made it harder for larger competitors, particularly the U.S., to replicate the product at scale.
Bilyea says Canada needs more collaboration across the value chain, from farmers and processors to researchers and government, to create similar success stories in other sectors. He also argues research investments should focus not only on productivity, but on developing products consumers value.
“Productivity for me is not just about more efficiency,” he says. “It’s really more about how do I produce something that somebody really wants.”
Bilyea points to canola as another Canadian example where government research, processors, and farmers aligned to create a globally successful product, adding that future competitiveness will depend on Canada’s ability to continue innovating beyond commodity production.
