Since its launch in 2019, The Dock+ has transformed Vancouver Island’s food production landscape, enabling small businesses to scale, test, and innovate. Home to eight anchor tenants and an in-demand commercial kitchen, it plays a vital role in supporting small food producers. As part of the BC Food Hub Network, the Dock+ provides startups and small businesses with a collaborative environment for growth and development, while benefiting from shared resources and equipment.
“The biggest success is that we are out of space,” said Carmela Ferro, Manager of Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations, Port Alberni Port Authority. “Our physical space is our issue, but the new expansion will open more opportunities.”
The Port Alberni Port Authority led the initiative to create the Dock+, transforming a dormant fish processing plant in 2019 into a fully certified food and beverage facility. Critically, it is a certified facility by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Province of British Columbia. Initial project investments from BC Regional Food Hub and Island Coastal Economic Trust, through the Capital and Investment Program, propelled the project forward.
The 17,000 sq foot facility has been a success from the beginning. Now, The Dock+ is expanding again. A 3,000-square-foot addition, in partnership with Nova Harvest Ltd. and Huu-ay-aht First Nations Fisheries LP, will unlock new opportunities for seafood producers across the region.
Nova Harvest: Scaling Oyster Processing with The Dock+
With the expansion, Nova Harvest will gain space to add specialized equipment required to scale their operations.
“We are a hatchery and a seed supplier for the oyster industry,” said J.P. Hastey, President & Founding Member, Nova Harvest. “Seed supply is a critical component for us, but building this processing centre will grow our potential.”
Although there is a large market for oysters, it isn’t without its challenges. Many restaurants face food safety challenges. Through the new development at the Dock+, Nova Harvest will gain high-pressure processing technology to flash freeze oysters in a way that isn’t currently available on Vancouver Island.
“If we have a high-quality freeze, we will have a high-quality product,” says Hastey. “It’ll be the same as a fresh oyster but solves the challenges that restaurants experience with food safety. They can come in frozen and be on plate 5 minutes later.”
This development is a major step for shellfish accessibility in retail and food service. It will also create opportunities for oyster farmers seeking new scalable, processing facilities. None of it would have been possible without the Dock+ and its collaborative model.
“The Dock+ really is an incubator,” said Hastey. “It reduced our risk to get into processing and allowed us to test it out. Once we learned we can do it, we then massively increased our investment. The Dock+ made this possible. And it will remain a critical component of our operation. This is such important infrastructure for small enterprises to come in and grow new sectors.”
Cascadia Seaweed: Scaling Climate-Smart Agriculture
While Nova Harvest is redefining oyster processing, Cascadia Seaweed is proving that seaweed cultivation can be a powerful tool for a climate-resilient food system.
“Building a more resilient food system is one of our values,” said Erin Bremner-Mitchell, Manager of Communications and Engagement, Cascadia Seafood. “As a vertically integrated operation, we aren’t just building a business, we’re developing a sector for Coastal B.C.”
As an anchor tenant, Cascadia Seaweed was able to experiment with different processes as they pursued their goal to become a major producer of seaweed-derived products. Although initially focused on human food products, their ambition — and financial pressures — guided them in a different direction.
“The food products we were producing under the Kove brand, although nutritious and delicious, were not 100% seaweed, therefore, not utilizing enough of the biomass we were producing to build a profitable and scalable business,” said Bremner-Mitchell. “Staying true to our values, we pivoted out of human food and into agricultural products, where there was a clear market to help produce more food and reduce emissions with our cultivated kelp.”
Without The Dock+, Cascadia Seaweed would have faced steep barriers to entry. Instead, they were able to rapidly prototype their manufacturing processes and products, validate demand, and pivot without the upfront capital risk of building a facility.
On the West Coast of Canada, the seaweed industry has been small-scale. “We are working to demonstrate how industry can scale responsibly, by partnering with First Nations and manufacturing products that are nature-based and climate-positive and driven by science and innovation,” said Bremner-Mitchell.
Cascadia Seaweed began selling their liquid kelp extracts, a supplement which helps plants uptake nutrients and resist against abiotic stress, to large-scale crop producers in California last year, while going through the process of certifying their products for sale in Canada. They are also testing the residual solids as a livestock feed additive.
As a certified B Corp and registered Benefit Company in BC with over 20 team members, 3 dedicated to the facility in Port Alberni, a larger commercial processing facility underway in Northern British Columbia, partnerships with multiple First Nation communities and marine service providers, and an expected seaweed harvest of over 500 wet tonnes this season, Cascadia Seaweed is scaling operations and building a business where sustainable aquaculture supports regenerative agriculture.
Other Tenants Achieving Meaningful Outcomes
Flurer Smokery followed a different path. By shifting their business from a larger building in Campbell River into a much smaller space at the Dock+, they strengthened their business.
“It’s about half of what we were paying,” says Kelly Flurer, Owner, Flurer Smokery. “As base tenants, we have some shared services that we split.”
Between the central island location and lower overhead costs, Flurer Smokery streamlined their operations to focus on direct-to-consumer sales at markets and producing specialty products.
“What we do here, it’s what we wanted to be doing from the beginning,” said Flurer. “Many of our customers rely on us weekly and we’re committed to being at the markets weekly.”
Flurer Smokery requires four full-time staff and up to a 10 seasonal staff through the busy summer. They’ve also built valuable partnerships with both the Tseshaht and Hupačasath First Nations for custom processing and distribution.
While Flurer Smokery leveraged The Dock+ to streamline their seafood operations, other tenants have used the facility to launch entirely new product lines. Nathan Gawalko, Owner, Old Habits Fermentation, jumped at the opportunity to join the Dock+ because it’s a Canadian Food Inspection Agency approved kitchen.
“I was in a provincially regulated space in Victoria,” said Gawalko, “and this opportunity came up. The CFIA inspections are hard to find in a ready to go facility, so when I got the space, I moved to Port Alberni as well.”
Gawalko has worked around the world, pursuing his career as a chef. A particular dish, served at a restaurant where he worked in Belgium, inspired his new business. Because it incorporates fermentation, it takes years to bring a product to market.
“I started with a five-year plan for fermentation,” said Gawalko, “and now I am in the second phase, which is to launch and begin sales. It’s available online and I am wholesaling it to speciality distributors.”
He also noted that new product development was a main reason why he shifted his business to the Dock+, so he looks forward to jumping into the shared kitchen, trialing some ideas, and continuing to drive his business forward.
Shared Kitchen Growing Community and Cuisine
The Dock+ also features a community kitchen for small food processors to expand their businesses through a provincially approved kitchen. For Lise Richard, owner, Tofino Hot Sauce, it was key to scaling her business.
“I was using a restaurant kitchen at night in Tofino,” said Richard, “but I would really max out at a batch size quite quickly. I was also working at night, when the restaurant was closed. It just wasn’t feasible to grow that way.”
The Dock+ facility helps Richard’s business thrive. Because she is still based in Tofino, she uses the kitchen space in bursts, often working from Thursday evening through Monday morning throughout the offseason. Between storage and production capacity, she’s able to make enough hot sauce to supply 55 retailers and support farmers markets sales.
“My goal is to use the kitchen enough this winter that I don’t have to go back until October,” said Richard, “but I can go back in the summer if I need to. I have a good growth rate of 17-18% per year, so there is a lot of interest in the sauce.”
The community aspect helps, too, with tenants supporting one another whenever there’s a need. Richard can schedule ingredient deliveries despite not being there to receive them, because somebody is always available to move it into the refrigerator. Likewise, when Cecilia and Ben Patarin, owners of Forest for Dinner, visited family abroad, Richard stepped in to help fulfill orders.
“Everyone wants more space,” said Cecilia Addy, Marina Manager and Dock+ Operations, Port Alberni Port Authority. “We have a limited footprint, but our kitchen has capacity for more. We are working on getting more businesses here.”
There are currently three anchor tenants at the kitchen, but the facility can support up to 10 regular members. With current members using the kitchen at irregular hours, there’s plenty of opportunity for daytime operations and seasonal operations.
Addy and the Dock+ team are working to include the wider Port Alberni community, too, suggesting kitchen workshops and class opportunities are waiting to be served.
Since it first opened, the Dock+ has been more than just a shared facility. It’s become a true business incubator, empowering small businesses to test new ideas, innovate new food sectors, and drive regional economic growth. From aquaculture to fermentation, its tenants are scaling operations, creating jobs, and opening new markets because of the community-minded shared infrastructure.
As The Dock+ expands, so too will its impact, proving that when businesses have the space, support, and certification they need, the possibilities are limitless.
Island Coastal Economic Trust invested $300,000, with the Port Alberni Port Authority, in 2019. The investment was made through the Capital and Innovation Program, supporting the Dock+ initiative to establish an Alberni Valley Regional Food Hub.
The Port Alberni Port Authority, in partnership with Nova Harvest Ltd. and Huu-ay-aht First Nations Fisheries LP (HFN Fisheries LP), received new funding provided by the province of B.C. to expand by 3000 square feet and continue supporting local food producers and community partners.
