Our history

Cooperative Export marketing Alliance of Canada or CEMAC.

CEMAC was a non for profit Association and an initiative funded by Finance Canada and supported and approved by Agricultural Canada and the Minister of Agriculture RH Ralph Goodale who later became Prime Minister of Canada  

It was a pilot project of the Government of Canada 

Dimitri N Kakaletris aka James Kaye wrote the thesis describing a new way to export and a new way to import.

It attacked much attention from the business community and Later the government.

CEMAC was one of only 3 Government of Canada funded Non for Profit Organizations:

  • FIC or Food Institute of Canada... whose members were all multinationals.
  • Specialty Foods ....which was funded to help companies participate in World Wide Trade Show. 
  • CEMAC ...  to help SME-S Small to Medium Enterprises... Go Global or help them Export.

We quickly grow to a sizable Organization with more than 1500 members and an overall combined business annual of 300,000,000 CND.

Our first major contract was with Publix in Florida. One of the top 10 largest Supermarkets in USA and other was Walt Disney World.

We later we listed in almost every Major Supermarket in the USA Europe and Canada

We also sign contracts with more than 350 largest distributors who’s combined turnover was more than 160 billion and who are present in every State of the Union, Additionally we signed with Major Wines and Spirits distributors who were also in every state of the Union and Canada  

Our Strategy was simple:

  • Sell direct.
  • Buy direct.
  • Be transparent.
  • Pool resources.
  • Pool ideas.
  • Work as a group not as an individual.
  • We were very successful traveling across Canada spreading the News of our Success and training local groups to build their own local Cemac. 
  • Soon companies across Canada were forming their own local working groups and working as a team pooling their knowledge resources and experiences to approach foreign markets.
  • Our Funding ran out in 1996 and CEMAC transformed into Cemak Canada / USA and Semak Europe  
  • Its Founder has continued to work and promote the idea of cooperation and pooling resources working as a group.
  • James has reinvented these practices in Europe and in 9 other countries, calling the NEW Company SEMAK
  • Semak now is a privately own for Profit organization with 19 offices and or personal in 3 continents