Great Mountain Ginseng
I know ginseng and I know our business. But keeping up with regulation, trade, technology and AI is hard. That’s why I rely on BDC. They make things easy. BDC helped us find bottlenecks and then provided the advice and financing we needed to get to the next level. We are now faster, more innovative and more productive.
Schelling Yeh
Co-owner and President
Great Mountain Ginseng sells ginseng and ginseng-derived products such as candy, tea, soup and vitamin supplements under the Canavida brand.
About the company
Founded in 1976, Great Mountain Ginseng is a third-generation family business that has grown into one of the largest ginseng retailers and wholesalers in Canada.
Location: Waterford, Ontario
Industry: Food and Beverage
Entrepreneur challenge
Over the past 50 years, Great Mountain Ginseng has evolved into a successful multi-million-dollar business employing 90 people and operating 13 Canadian retail stores, a vast wholesale distribution network, and one of the largest processing ginseng centres in the country. The company processes and sells up to 1.2 million pounds of ginseng each year, half of which is exported to the U.S. and Asia. A medicinal root valued for its energizing properties, ginseng can take up to five years to grow. Cutting, slicing, grading and packaging ginseng is usually done manually, which increases processing time and the risk of errors. Strong growth, market diversification and new product lines brought increasing operational complexity for the company over the years. With ambitious plans for expansion to China and the U.S., Great Mountain Ginseng wanted to boost its competitiveness, agility and productivity.
BDC expertise
Understanding the challenges specific to the food sector, BDC’s certification experts supported the company meet the regulatory requirements for food safety standards by getting the ISO, HACCP and SQF certifications. BDC also extended a pre-approved equipment loan to help the company invest in robotic automation. With deferred capital payments for up to 24 months, the loan provided peace of mind and flexibility for future purchases, with no additional documentation required. More recently, BDC’s experts worked on a digital roadmap to help Great Mountain Ginseng advance its digital maturity, with a focus on real-time inventory management, enhanced traceability for food compliance, fraud prevention strategies for online sales, and increased use of AI to reduce reliance on scarce specialized skills.
Results
- Compliance with industry regulations
- Implementing a culture of continuous improvement
- Efficiency and productivity gains as a result of automation investments
- Faster and more accurate ginseng cutting, grading, slicing and packaging
- Fewer errors and superior product quality
- Increased resilience and competitiveness, positioning the company for its next phase of international growth
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