We were commissioned by the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture to produce their 2016 Agrifoods-Seafood Exporter Directory. This directory is a comprehensive catalogue of Ministry-approved exporters, to be distributed worldwide, with a focus on Asia. It was intended to spread the word about the pre-eminence of B.C.’s food industry, and encourage global importers to purchase from B.C. producers. The resulting Exporter Directory was proof of KIMBO’s document design and project management capabilities.
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Ministry of Agriculture Catalogue
What We Delivered:
- Industry Outreach
- Document Design
- Print Design
- Graphic Design
- Copyediting and Proofing
- Online Flipbook
The Challenge
There were two main challenges with this project: compiling the list of eligible exporters, and designing the massive catalogue. Both of these issues were difficult because of the sheer size of the exporter base here in B.C. The Ministry of Agriculture gave us a list of over 400 exporters, and the coordination of contacting and receiving information from this many parties was a daunting task. We eventually whittled the exporter pool down to about 100, but there was still the issue of obtaining and organizing copy and images and from each exporter. Only once all exporters were satisfied with the brand and product information they had given us, could we begin assembling it into a single document.
In 2015, KIMBO Design was contracted by the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture to conduct outreach to hundreds of BC agrifood and seafood industry representatives, and develop the first ever BC Agrifood and Seafood Export-Ready Business Catalogue. The high-quality, highly-polished catalogue that KIMBO developed exceeded our expectations and delivered exactly what we had hoped for: a means to showcase BC’s agrifood and seafood industry to international buyers around the world. Throughout the entire process, the staff at KIMBO were extremely professional, well organized and highly adaptable, going above and beyond to deliver an excellent product in the timeframe they said they would.
The Strategy
This project began with the industry outreach stage. We had to vet and narrow down the exporter contact list provided to us by the Ministry of Agriculture, contact the appropriate exporters, and gather the information that they wanted to include in their exporter profile. The vetting process involved confirming that each exporter had enough capacity to handle global business, and were registered to do business in B.C. Contact with the exporters was made through a blast email, which KIMBO delivered on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, that detailed success stories of other B.C. exporters, and provided industry growth data tailored to each exporter.
Once this information was collected in a database, we began the design stage. For each exporter, we were responsible for acquiring and editing written content about their business, as well as images of their products. Compiling all of this copy and imagery was a huge task for our writers and graphic designers, but it resulted in a clear and concise profile detailing the individuality, inventory and capabilities of each exporter. The profiles were accompanied by vibrant, high-quality images of their produce, seafood, or other natural products. Our design philosophy was to use a minimalist design, so that the natural beauty of the photos could shine.
BC Minister of Agriculture Norm Letnick and the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada present the catalogue at the launch event held in Vancouver. Photo: Province of British Columbia (Flickr)
Thank you letter from BC Minister of Agriculture Norm Letnick.
Results
Our final product was a clean, all-inclusive document for B.C., exporters, accented by elegant photography. The ample proofing effort that we engaged in ensured that all exporter information was accurate, and that all exporter profiles were as expected. The final design acted as a frame for B.C.’s agricultural pinnacles, and our contacts at the Ministry of Agriculture couldn’t have been happier with our work, our cooperation, or our professionalism. Both the Provincial and Federal Ministers of Agriculture also shared praise for the Directory, gladly promoting it to the public. BC Minister of Agriculture Norm Letnick followed up recently with a personalized letter thanking us for our great work—see the letter below.
