Canada has an extensive range of research centres, food incubators, accelerators and labs supporting food and beverage innovation through the research they do and/or the services they offer. Each week throughout 2023, we’ll be highlighting an organization that’s supporting food innovation in Canada.
Name: Centre for Aquaculture and Seafood Development.
Location: St. John’s, NL. The Centre is an industrial response unit in the School of Fisheries at the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Focus: Technical services in seafood processing, aquaculture, and marine bioprocessing, in the areas of applied research, product and process development, advisory services, and training.
Mission: To offer technical support to industry in the seafood and aquaculture sectors.
Services: The Centre’s, 400-sq.-m pilot plant facilities include a 1,100-sq.-m food processing pilot plant, an aquaculture facility, and a marine bioprocessing facility. The food processing plant offers a food development kitchen, a sensory analysis lab, and a variety of pilot-scale food processing equipment that will enable clients to develop new seafood products, equipment and processes, or train employees.
The bioprocessing research laboratory performs analytical work and small-scale process development, and is available for businesses requiring lab-scale production of marine bio-products, lab-scale concentration of marine extracts, or for testing, analysis of products, food chemistry, or wastewater. The Centre helps clients move from product concept to development through to proof-of-concept and pre-commercialization stages.
What you need to know: The Centre has strategic partnerships with various faculties within Memorial University to compliment its capabilities.
Notable News: The Centre’s clients include seafood and food processing companies, aquaculture companies, provincial and federal governments, fish harvesters, biotechnology companies, and supplier businesses to these sectors.
Get Involved: Contact the Centre for Aquaculture and Seafood Development at casd@mi.mun.ca, or at 709-778-0532, or reach out to our Regional Innovation Director for Atlantic Canada Tyson MacInnis.
