Inside SIAL Canada 2026: Driving Food Innovation Through Connection and Collaboration
CFIN had the honour of taking a bite out of SIAL Canada 2026 in Montréal 🍎—connecting with partners, members, and industry leaders shaping the future of food innovation across Canada and beyond. Representing CFIN on site were CEO @Dana McCauley and @Julie Daigle , Regional Innovation Director (Quebec), who engaged with the ecosystem throughout the event. Their presence reflected CFIN’s ongoing commitment to strengthening Canada’s food innovation ecosystem and supporting high-potential foodtech ventures. Attendees could also catch Julie as a Foodtech Focus expert at the SIAL Canada Expert Hub, where she connected directly with innovators and shared insights with the community. Dana also took the stage as part of the Dairy Talks program, contributing to a forward-looking discussion on innovation as a driver of market leadership in the Canadian dairy sector. Her session explored the shift from incremental product development toward a broader innovation mindset—highlighting next-generation ingredients, value-added dairy formats, new go-to-market strategies, and the role of Industry 4.0 technologies like AI, robotics, automation, and digital supply chains in strengthening productivity and global competitiveness. A key highlight of the week was CFIN’s involvement in the 7th edition of the Startup Pitch Competition, held on April 30 on the Food & Bev Connect stage. Julie Daigle participated as the President of the Foodtech jury, joining a panel of industry experts evaluating promising entrepreneurs from the Startup Village. Beyond the competition, the Startup Pitch stage served as a strategic platform connecting entrepreneurs with buyers, investors, and key decision-makers across the agri-food ecosystem. A standout moment for the CFIN community was the recognition of Maia Farms, a CFIN member and funding recipient, which earned the Gold Prize in the foodtec h competition 🍄🏆 CFIN’s presence at SIAL Canada underscored the momentum of Canada’s food innovation sector and the value of convening the ecosystem to accelerate ideas from concept to commercialization. 📖 Explore more from SIAL Canada 2026 R elive the stories, innovations, and key moments captured throughout the show in the official SIAL Canada Daily: SIAL Canada Daily – 2026 Edition (Photos Courtesy of SIAL)
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Five Years of CFIN: A Letter to the Network
Thirty years ago, I worked as a chef in the kitchen of one of Canada’s top restaurants standing should er to shoulder with people who ca red about the sensory experience of food above all else . Our tech stack was al most all analog and , to be honest, we didn’t give our ordering system or the way we did inventory a lot of thought. My career broadened over time , and I ’ ve also held roles where I developed recipes at Canadian Living and wrote about food trends; built innovation strategies and products for national brands, founded a business incubator, and ran a venture creation office at a prestigious Canadian u niversity . Food was always the thread , and technology was always present but in most of the food focused businesses I’ve worked for, it was taken for granted, and creativity and hard work were what drove the businesses forward. While smart people with great ideas are essential to food business success, it’s not enough to be competitive in today’s world. Old ways of running restaurants, innovation labs and food and beverage processi ng businesses can’t compete internationally or absorb the trade shocks that have become commonpla ce in recent history. That’s why I feel l ik e CFIN is the perfect place for me to be today and why we’re adding dozens of new members per week. When CFIN was created in 2021, the mandate was intentionally broad : cata lyze Canadian food innovation with funding , build community, connect an ecosystem that had been operating in silos for decades. The funding programs took shape quickly. Since 2022, we’ve awar ded $23.3 million to 133 projects across six program s. For every $1 CFIN invested, our members committed $7.65 of their own capital toward innovation. This leverage ratio of nearly 8-to-1 has unlocked over $140 m illion in private sector spending on R&D and capital infrastructure. The other work was harder to define . What do "build community" and "connect an ecosystem" mean in practice for a sector span ning startups, processors, researchers, investors, policymakers, and operators spread across this vast country ? Th at question didn't have a tidy answer. As a result , fostering and serving this network was (and remains ) an exercise in innovation itself : something new to be built , and then tested, adjusted, and iterated upon , ad infinitum . I’m immensely proud of what we’ve built so far . A team of Regional Innovation Directors who've supported more than 2,200 organizations, brokering the introductions that became commercial partnerships, strategic investments, leadership hires, and research collaborations. A digital platform , YODL, connecting Canada's food sector across industry silos and bridging interprovincial barriers . The first comprehensive analysis of Canadian foodtech . A network of 8,500 members from every province, every part of the food value chain, every stage of business . On any given week, our community is discussing topics ranging from precision fermentation bioreactor designs and funding stacks to food packaging labeling regulations and export strategies, all in the same space. Members benefit from purpose-built tools and resources — like our Funding Finder that aggregates food and beverage funding opportunities across the country and a growing library of original sector research and analysis — alongside direct access to our Regional Innovation Directors. Canada has strong regional funders, accelerators, trade associations, and tech transfer offices, each doing necessary work in a defined lane. What this sector didn't have was a place where the conversation s , the tools, and the connections all showed up at once — where the range of problems and the range of capabilities were dense enough that the right solutions could emerge . That's what CFIN has built. That foundation is important because the next five years will be even more dynamic, and often more challenging, than the last five . To keep pace and flourish in an increasingly volatile world, Canada's food sector needs to modernize faster and more strategic ally than ever before . Trade disruption is dramaticall y reshaping supply chains . L abour constraints are compounding a productivity gap that was widening long before tariffs became front-page news. Climate pressures are intensifying. Food 4.0 — a tech-enabled food s ector that's more collaborative, productive, resilient, and competitive — is the framework CFIN is building toward, and the case for it gets more urgent by the quarter. I ’m confident that we’re up to the task . Five years ago, Canada's food innovation ecosystem was fragmented, underleveraged, and often invisible to the investors, operators, policymakers, and media who needed to see it. That's no longer true. The capacity to respond to the challenges ahead is here. Not in any single program or policy, but in the breadth of this network — the founders , processors , researchers , and investo rs who are hungry to innovate and build a better Canadian food sector . My own wide-ranging path through the food sector taught me that no single role ever showed me the full picture. It took working across kitchens, labs, newsrooms, boardrooms, and startups to understand how innovation really moves through this industry — and where it get s stuck. CFIN was built on the same insight. A sector this complex, facing challenges this urgent, needs more than funding or advice or connections in isolation. It needs all of them in the same room. That's what we've spent five years building, and I'm betting the next five will prove its value at a scale none of us can yet imagine. Thank you for being part of it. Dana McCauley, CEO, Canadian Food Innovation Network
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How BC is Becoming a National Foodtech Hub
Editor's Note: This article was o riginally published in the Vancouver Tech Journal on March 13, 2026 The province has a diverse food processing industry, world-class research facilities, and a deep bench of tech talent — everything a foodtech ecosystem needs to thrive. Foodtech builds the software, automation, and applied science for how food gets processed, manufactured, packaged, distributed, and sold. The industry behind it is enormous — food and beverage processing alone is Canada's largest manufacturing sub-sector , bigger than automotive, bigger than aerospace. It's a serious market, and in British Columbia, it's growing fast. But if you work in the province's broader tech ecosystem, you might not even know that. Foodtech hasn't traditionally drawn the same attention as sectors like cleantech or enterprise SaaS despite being a comparable market in scale and complexity — and one where demand for new technology is accelerating fast. What BC brings to the table BC's food processing sector is substantial — over 3,200 companies producing roughly $12.6 billion in value-added products annually. And it's being treated as a strategic priority. The province has funded a network of shared food processing hubs, UBC just opened a Food and Beverage Innovation Centre with pilot-scale production labs that processors and startups previously had to leave BC to access, and SFU's BC Centre for Agritech Innovation is partnering directly with SMEs on cost-shared R&D. At the same time, much of what the food industry needs is already being built in BC for other thriving tech sectors. Process automation, energy management, supply chain software, safety and traceability systems, data-driven quality control — these are cleantech and software problems applied to production floors and distribution networks. The talent, research base, and trade infrastructure to support a serious foodtech cluster are all here. A different kind of tech sector Foodtech doesn't work like enterprise SaaS or consumer tech. Processors and manufacturers adopt slowly and carefully, because failure is expensive in ways that go beyond lost revenue — a food safety issue, a botched line integration, a regulatory problem. Sales cycles run in quarters. The investor community that understands food is small and specialized. And the industry's own networks run through trade associations, existing supply relationships, and sector-specific events that sit well outside the broader tech community's orbit. None of this means foodtech is closed off. It means that if you want in — as a founder, investor, developer, or potential partner — you need a way to access the conversations, the deal flow, and the operating knowledge that don't surface through the usual channels. The Canadian Food Innovation Network The Canadian Food Innovation Network is a national not-for-profit, established in 2021 that functions as the operating infrastructure for Canada's foodtech sector. CFIN runs cost-shared funding programs that help companies de-risk R&D and move technology into commercial settings. Since launch , the organization has awarded over $22 million to 122 Canadian foodtech projects, matched by $25 million in industry co-investment. Those funded companies have generated $90 million in economic impact, created over 355 jobs and co-op placements, and attracted more than $82 million in follow-on investment. The network's 8,000-plus members include food processors, technology companies, ingredient suppliers, retailers, researchers, and investors — connected through YODL, CFIN's member platform, and supported by Regional Innovation Directors embedded across the country, who work directly with members to broker introductions, navigate funding, and connect emerging technology with the processors and buyers who need it. CFIN also produces the sector's most detailed intelligence . The Foodtech in Canada 2025 Ecosystem Report mapped investment flows, identified sector strengths, and gave both companies and investors a clearer picture of where the Canadian foodtech market stands. And then there's Foodtech Frontier , CFIN's annual program identifying the country's highest-potential foodtech companies. The inaugural cohort of 35 winners included eight BC companies. For investors, it works as curated, vetted deal flow in a sector where sourcing is otherwise hard. For the companies, it's structured national visibility. Plug into Canada’s foodtech ecosystem If you work in technology or investment and you've been curious about the food sector, then signing up for a free CFIN membership is the best place to start. Members get access to funding programs, sector intelligence, a national innovation community, and regional team members that know the BC landscape specifically.
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Other Articles
AI + Food – Canvass AI
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . Canadian food, beverage and foodtech companies are using AI to solve a wide variety of industry challenges, including improving efficiency, pricing analysis, inventory management, quality control, food safety assurance and more. In this installment, we’re looking at Canvass AI . What They Do Canvass Analytics Inc. (Canvass AI) is an industrial AI software developer based in Toronto, ON. How They’re Using AI The company offers AI software specifically for the industrial sector that it says will allow manufacturing companies , including food and beverage manufacturers, to monitor and predict future output to optimize operational performance, make decisions faster based on data, and set new sustainability benchmarks by reducing water consumption and CO 2 emissions . In the Media Control Engineering - Canvass AI’s APC Solution , part of its Asset Suite of software, won gold in Control Engineering ’ s 2023 Product Of The Year Awards. CB Insights – In 2022 Canvass AI was recognized by CB Insights on its annual list of the world’s 5 0 most promising advanced manufacturing companies. FedDev Ontario – The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario invested more than $5.7 million in Canvass AI in 2022. The funding will go towards the expansion and commercialization of its AI software platform, to create 45 new jobs , and to help the company grow.
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Company Profile – Myo Palate
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . This is one in a series of interviews with CFIN member companies that have successfully applied for and rec e ived fun d ing . Toronto, ON-based Myo Palate received $1,971,084 in funding for a project titled Scaling Cultivated Pork Production Using Embryonic Stem Cells, with project partners Getinge Canada Ltd. We spoke with Myo Palate co-founder Frank Yu to find out more about the company and its project. Q: Please explain what your company does and how your products are improving the food industry? A: Myo Palate is a biotechnology company developing sustainable meat products. We nurture cells to make meat, instead of growing the entire animal. Using natural animal cells, we produce muscle, fat and cartilage to create ground meat as a raw material. Our controlled bioprocess allows us to reduce the environmental burden associated with meat production and provide a consistent supply. Q: What is your company’s mission? A: We are a team of scientists, engineers, and food lovers applying cutting-edge technologies to achieve a common mission: making meat sustainable and accessible for everyone. Q: Why did you apply for this funding and how will you use it? A: We have developed a novel bioprocess to address the two biggest barriers in cultivated meats: scalability and price. We are now in an exciting time to scale this process. CFIN funding has provided us with the opportunity to de-risk this process and collaborate with incredible industry and academic partners. Q: What excites you most about working in this area of the food industry? A: We are a big team of foodies and we are excited about the potential of creating customizable meat products. Imagine a world where you can choose the amount of fat, muscle, and cartilage that goes into your meat . We’re still far away from this vision, but the thought of it gets us excited. Q: Why is collaboration so important for accelerating innovation in the food industry? Is it difficult to find good collaborating partners, and what would make the process easier? A: Cultivated meats is still deep tech and there are a lot of verticals in our industry. Collaborations allow us to climb these verticals faster and develop better products. We have been fortunate to have a great network of collaborators and we would not be in our current position without them. Q: Please comment on the importance of public funding to help companies clear innovation hurdles and access leveraged funds. A: Public funding serves as a critical catalyst in transitioning deep tech innovations from theoretical possibilities to real-world solutions. Deep tech, which encompasses groundbreaking technologies like AI, biotech, and advanced materials, often requires substantial investment in R&D, long gestation periods, and a high tolerance for risk. These factors make them less appealing to short-term investors or traditional venture capital. The history of solar energy serves as a prime example. In its infancy, solar technology was expensive and inefficient, making it an unattractive commercial investment. However, public funding and government grants enabled years of research, scaling, and iterative development, ultimately reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Today, solar energy is one of the most widely-used and cost-effective renewable energy sources globally. This transformative journey from a niche technology to a global industry was made possible, in large part, by public investment. Q: Looking ahead, what’s on the horizon for your company? A: We are currently preparing for our Health Canada submission and hope to bring some delicious tastings to CFIN members soon! Q: What are your passions or hobbies outside of work? A: This year will be my ninth year running HOSA Canada , a registered nonprofit organization that provides healthcare education for high school and university students. We have had over 30,000 students cycle through our program and we bring home many international competition medals every year! Q: If you had to pick one person to make you a meal, who would you choose? A: Gordon Ramsey. #cellularfood #cultivatedmeat #biotechnology #FoodInnovation #R&D #funding CFIN Members get exclusive access to funding opportunities , five Regional Innovation Directors , and YODL . Learn more about what it’s like to be a CFIN Member and how you can join our growing community of food professionals.
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50 Canadian FoodTech Resources – Merinov
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . 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: Merinov at Cégep de la Gaspésie et des Îles Location: Gaspé, QC Mission: To he lp fisheries, aquaculture and marine biomass industr ies be come more competitive and develop sustainably through research and development, knowledge transfer , and innovation-related technical activities. Focus: Merinov is Canada’s largest integrated centre for applied research and technological transfer in fishing, aquaculture, and processing of aquatic products and marine biotechnologies. Services: As a sea-to-market industrial research centre , Merinov specializes in technology specific to fisheries, aquaculture, processing and marine bioresources. The centre offers a multidisciplinary team that helps clients implement sustainable and efficient processes. The centre offers clients customized solutions, helps find collaboration opportunities and partners, and access funding programs. The team at Merinov has expertise in R&D, applied research, technology transfer and technical assistance , design and process engineering, p rofitability and process optimization , d iagnostics and support , a nalysis services , and food product and industrial application development . It s areas of specialization include: fisheries technology, fisheries diversification, shellfish farming, seaweed farming, fish farming, biofood product development, industrial processing methods, bioresources and biotechnology. What you need to know: Merinov is responsible for the administrative and operational management of the Cégep de la Gaspésie et des Îles’s CCTT for fisheries, whose mission is to provide technological solutions and innovations for Quebec’s fisheries, aquaculture and aquatic product processing industry , helping it b ring products to market, improve the performance of its processes , and drive growth. Notable News: In February 2023 a team of researchers from Merinov travelled to Brest, France to learn about equipment and technology innovations that could be adapted to Quebec fisheries, especially in the re-emerging redfish fishery sector. Get Involved: Contact Merinov at (844) 368-6371 or at info@merinov.ca , or reach out to our Regional Innovation Director for Quebec Julie Daigle .
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What YODLers are Saying and Reading - Top YODL Content for October 2023
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . October was a busy month on YODL! In case you missed them, here are the top five discussions and most read articles on YODL in October 2023. Top YODL Discussions in October 2023 Number 5 Looking for Technical Know-How that Knows NIR (near-infra red) Detectors in Food Applications CFIN members regularly turn to YODL to find experts and potential business partners. Number 4 Food Regulatory & Safety Conference - Nov 28/29 - Member Offer Continue to check YODL for special offers and tickets to events exclusively for CFIN members. Number 3 Hot Fill Equipment Expertise Finding new collaboration partners is just one benefit of being a CFIN member. Number 2 Looking for a Rosemary Supplier? YODL is the perfect platform for sourcing ingredients, new technology and more. Number 1 Consumers don't Understand the Food Business - How Can we Change That? A new study shows that while public trust in Canada’s agri-food sector is steady, consumers are becoming cynical. Most Read YODL Articles in October 2023 Number 5 IN 30: Food Scarc i ty and Insecurity Food organization and businesses are helping to address food scarcity and insecurity in Canada and around the world with new technology and processing techniques. Number 4 50 Canadian FoodTech Re s ources – Good to Grow North Vancouver, BC -based Good to Grow is a team of food industry experts and business educators who create success for food and beverage brands. Number 3 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is Puttin g a Priority on Cyber Resilience in Agriculture and Food As agricultural and agri-food businesses become more digitized and connected online, the risk of cyber threats increases. This guest post from AAFC looks at how food and agri-food businesses can minimize the risks of c yber- attacks. Number 2 IN 30: Cybersecur i ty 101 C ybercrime and cybersecurity affects Canada ’ s food and beverage industry more than most business operators realize. Number 1 An Interview with a Product Mana g er Lavina Gully, Regional Innovation Director for BC and Yukon, sits down with Jeff Epstein of North Vancouver, BC’s 16 Volts and Grants for Growth, to discuss the role of a product manager, the importance of product management, and the significant advantages it offers food and beverage companies.
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IN 30: The Plant-Based Food Market
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . Sometimes, all it takes is 30 minutes to learn the ins and outs of new food technologies and trends that are transforming the food and beverage industry. In this series, we’ll dig into a food innovation topic and link you to content and resources so you can become a master on the topic in 30 minutes (or less!). This week we’re looking at the latest news and developments in the plant-based food sector. What’s New Food Matters Live – Five Plant-based Food Trends and Innovations for 2023 New innovations include vegan cheese, plant-based fish, and more. VegNews – Heading to the Plant Based World Expo? These are the Five Trends to Watch . Trends from the third Plant Based World Expo, which took place in September 2023. Greener Ideal – The Eight Hottest Vegan Food Trends of 2023 What vegan customers are asking for in restaurants and at grocery stores. The Canadian Connection Plant-Based Foods Canada – Plant-Based Foods of Canada (PBFC) is a division of Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP) . It is the industry association for companies that make and market plant-based foods in Canada. Protein Industries Canada - Protein Industries Canada is one of Canada’s five Global Innovation Clusters , and is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization created to position Canada as a global source of high-quality plant protein and plant-based co-products. Plant Forward Conference – The next Plant Forward Conference takes place April 16 to 18, 2024 in Toronto, ON, and will showcase food and ingredients for businesses in the global plant protein sector. Social Media Gardein (Facebook) – Gardein is a Conagra Brand of meat-free foods. Sol Cuisine (Instagram) – Sol Cuisine produces a wide variety of plant-based meals, snacks and sides. Simply Protein (LinkedIn) – Simply Protein is a line of plant-based snacks with a limited number of clean ingredients from Toronto, ON-based Wellness Natural Inc. Overtime If you’ve got more than 30 minutes, these are for you: YouTube - Top Vegan Products - Natural Product Expo 2023 A collection of the best vegan and plant-based products at the Natural Product Expo West tradeshow.
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The Best of Staff Picks
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . A lot of material comes across our desks at CFIN, and we love to share new information with YODLers ! This year we checked in with CFIN staff to find out what they were reading, listening to, watching, and posting about . Here’s a summary of some of the best of those suggestions. What are you reading? Adrianne Assenheim , Communications Specialist - Lately I have been devouring Lenore Newman’s Lost Feast: Culinary Extinction and the Future of Food . Her books are as delicious as a beach read, and as filling as the OG Noma tasting menu! I also spend a lot of time leafing through my cookbooks (which I never follow but am very inspired by) to soak up tips on zero-waste cooking, foraged/local/seasonal produce and preserving. Most recently I have been gravitating to Love and Lemons Everyday in preparation from what I hope will be a big heirloom veggie haul from our garden this year. Jairo Melo , Director of Digital Technology - Lean Analytics by Alister Croll and Benjamin Yoskovitz , and Quantum Supremacy by Michio Kaku . Rajiv Ramalingam , IT Lead Support - I read technology related articles, especially from a tech website name called How to Geek – where experts will explain us technology . I started to follow them since 2008, until today I am getting their daily email notification about new technologies and problem-solving techniques. I highly recommend to anyone to visit their page who needs tech support or to learn about the latest technologies in the market. Curtis Wong , Vice President of Partnerships and Development - I r ecently finished Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World . In my second week at CFIN, in Guelph, ON I was recommended Dinner on Mars and Reality Check: Straight Talk About Sponsorship Marketing – I have not started either. I am now on Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away What are you listening to? Alex Barlow , V ice P resident of Programs - Recently I’m obsessed with a band called Lake Street Dive that a friend introduced me to. Podcast wise, I really like The Big Story which is a daily 20- to 30-minute episode on Canadian topics – recent ones around grocery prices, single-use plastics, or how our cup of coffee helps us understand global inflation are some favourites. My listening habits, unlike my reading habits, are all about short and sweet ! Nestor Gomez . , Chief Technology Officer - I listen to podcasts. Lots of them. And I also follow their equivalent YouTube channels. Among my favourites are Revisionist History by Malcolm Gladwell that focuses on overlooked and misunderstood yet significant events in history; Sean Carroll’s Mindscape , a 360 view of philosophy and science with a lot of cosmology and particle physics; StarTalk Radio , with Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice, a fun take on very serious astrophysics and science; The Ezra Klein Show ; Freakonomics Radio ; The Hidden Brain ; and the list goes on and on… Lavina Gully , Reginal Innovation Director for BC and Yukon - My favourite podcast is Econtalk by Russ Roberts. He’s been at it for over 10 years and has branched out to cover a wide range of topics including health, business and psychology. Tyson MacInnis , Regional Innovation Director for Atlantic Canada - I listen to Freakonomics on a regular basis as I like that it covers a range of interesting subjects that you otherwise wouldn’t think of. Also, most recently I occasionally listen to How I Built This , Next in Travel & Dining , and Mid-Day Squares . Who are you following? Hubba Khatoon , Regional Innovation Director for the Prairies - I ’ m currently keeping tabs on all the winners of the CFIN funding programs. It ’ s so great to see all these innovators pushing the boundaries of food technology. I ’ ll definitely be following along closely to see them in action! Check them out here . Dana McCauley , CEO - I tend to follow sources that I can trust to have good quality information. For those interested in the food business in Canada, I follow Food in Canada , CIFST , Foodservice & Hospitality and Canadian Grocer . For an international lens, I watch what Matthieu Vincent , Elaine Watson , Danielle Nierenberg have to say. Jaleh Sasani , P rogram S pecialist - I follow a variety of great newsletters including Food Dive , Grocery Dive , MaRS News , and the Arrell Food Institute . Lately, I’ve been interested in learning more about honey bee health and enjoy updates from the University of Guelph Honey Bee Research Centre . What are you watching? Ella Baker , Administrative Specialist - I am watching a lot of videos on YODL so I can get caught up with what’s happening in this industry. A few of them include AI and the Food Industry – An interview with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (AMII) , The Future of Cellular Food Regulations in Canada , and Parlons d'innovation: Nouvelles initiatives d’étiquetage sur l’impact environnemental des aliments . Jamil Karim , Director of Communications - This Ted Talk from 2021 featuring New Harvest ’s Isha Dotar has been making the rounds on our CFIN Teams channel. It’s 12 minutes and you’ll leave with an above average understanding of what cellular agriculture is and why it’s got the potential to be a vital piece to solving food security. What are you posting about? Linda Fox , Regional Innovation Director for Ontario - I make a lot of use of LinkedIn to talk about the projects our members at CFIN have underway, and the programs we have in that realm. I remain amazed each day at the breadth of solutions our Canadian innovators are coming up with .
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Company Spotlight – Verschuren Centre
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . This is one in a series of interviews with CFIN member companies that have successfully applied for and received funding . The Verschuren Centre Inc. for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment, in Sydney, NS received $1,188,294 in funding for a project called Automation and Digital Twin Integration for Precision Fermentation Scale Up of Cell-Based Food Ingredients, with project partners Liven Proteins, NovoBind Livestock Therapeutics, Material Futures Lab, Dispersa , and Mara Renewables. We spoke with Verschuren Centre CEO Beth Mason to find out more about the centre and this project. Q: Please explain what your company does and how your products are improving the food industry. A: The Verschuren Centre (VC) is an independent not-for-profit clean technology development and deployment facility, providing contracted services to industry and community in the areas of bioprocessing, energy storage and sustainable resource use. The VC’s National Biomanufacturing program comprises in-house fermentation expertise from bench to full scale, as well as the process engineering for all downstream from separation to drying at large scale. We operate one of the leading pilot bioprocessing facilit ies in Canada and provide an open - access engagement model that enables SMEs to develop scale-up operations that advance their process and separation technology in a cost-effective, supportive environment. The c entre is collaborating with pioneering technology SMEs, to harness synthetic biology ( synbio ) for advancing cell-based food solutions through precision fermentation. Our partners specialize in producing an array of essential food molecules such as flavours, binders, pigments, proteins, oils, and polymers from natural sources, all with a common goal to decrease food industry’s carbon footprint, reducing waste, and lower our dependency on fossil fuels. Q: What is your company’s mission? A: Our mission is to bring clean technologies to bear for a sustainable future, addressing both reduced greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emission targets directly and greening the supply chain. To do this we build capacity to bridge the gap between innovation and deployment. Q: Why did you apply for this funding and how will you use it? A: In the clean tech and biotech sector capacity building is highly capital intensive, and is a major hurdle for scale up of innovative technologies that can provide solutions for today’s major challenges. We have led the way with our unique business model of shared, open - access facilities for scaling technologies that align with the needs of our partners. With CFIN’s support, the Verschuren Centre will be able to provide additional trailblazing tools that accelerate and de-risk the SMEs’ path through scale towards commercialization. Our ground-breaking endeavour involves constructing a unique 10,000 - L precision fermentation facility with integrated AI advanced automation, digital twin technology, and machine learning. An overlay of enhanced automation and digital twin will result in rapid fermentation process optimization and maximal efficiency of materials inputs; hence, reducing costs, reducing carbon footprint, enhancing human health, empowering companies to streamline their market entry, and helping to establish a resilient and sustainable Canadian supply chain. Q: What excites you most about working in this area of the food industry? A: Food security and food production sustainability are two current global challenges – s caling of innovative technologies is crucial to provide real and timely solutions. C ellular food and synbio technology present great potential for the future of food systems as well as greener bioeconomies . A recent Natural Products Canada review called biomanufacturing the internet of the future due to its growth potential. The Verschuren Centre is the collective technical expertise base for bio-based product manufacture in the fastest - growing sectors of the global economy, driven by the global need to provide innovative alternatives to a variety of products, including food. Q: Why is collaboration so important for accelerating innovation in the food industry? Is it difficult to find good collaborating partners, and what would make the process easier? A: It is critical that as many discipline experts as possible are available to address the challenges of scale up to accelerate innovation in the food industry . The complexities of a multidisciplinary field such as industrial fermentation involve s combining knowledge sets from microbiology (microbial synthesis), molecular genetics (optimizing novel microbial strains), analytical chemistry (molecule behaviour) and physics (fluid dynamics and gas diffusion) , which is why the partnerships from diverse sectors (including AI, dynamic computer simulation, and machine learning science) can play a key role in technologies advancement. This can save time and money, as well as retain a constantly growing knowledge repository for successive SME companies to build from. Q: Please comment on the importance of public funding to help companies clear innovation hurdles and access leveraged funds. A: As mentioned earlier, capacity building in biotech sector is highly capital intensive, and is a major hurdle for scale up of innovative technologies. Public funding like CFIN’s Food Innovation Challenge program helps companies build capacity to scale , and with the support for the shared open-access facilities at the Verschuren Centre, it helps to break down barriers to growth for disruptive technologies such as precision fermentation. Q: Looking ahead, what’s on the horizon for your company? A: The VC is currently commissioning the 10,000 - L (10X) precision fermentation line in a new facility (National Biomanufacturing Centre) specifically for scale up of a range of precision fermentation companies. On the horizon, a second 15 ,000- to 20,000 - L fermentation line is contemplated for later next year. The proposed expansion of our capacity is to accommodate more complexity and more companies, advanced automation, skilled jobs and training, and investment in the sector. The long-term objective of our expansion is to provide expanded and digitized end-to-end , bio-based product manufacture for clients in the biomanufacturing and precision fermentation sector, establishing Nova Scotia and Canada as the leader in these sectors, specifically with focus on sustainable materials for manufacturing, green chemicals, and agri-food functional ingredients. Q: What are your passions or hobbies outside of work? A: Hunting and fly fishing. Q: If you had to pick one person to make you a meal, who would you choose? A: A Michelin Star chef.
Community Manager-
50 Canadian FoodTech Resources - BioFoodTech
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . 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 : BioFoodTech (formerly called the PEI Food Technology Centre) Location: Charlottetown, PE Mission: To support the growth, transformation and competitiveness of PEI’s food and bioscience manufacturing sectors. Focus: BioFoodTech helps small- to medium-sized businesses in the PEI food and bioscience manufacturing sectors with product development, scale up, lab services, and labelling and regulations compliance. Services: The centre offers three pilot plants (one is licenced through CFIA’s Safe Food for Canadians Regulations), a product development kitchen and lab, a microbiology lab, and onsite storage for products. Product development services include converting recipes into formulations with weighted ingredients; creating prototypes; achieving targeted nutritional factors; sourcing functional ingredients; sensory analysis; quality and food safety testing; and package and process testing. Services for scale-up trials include testing similar equipment to compare which performs best, and creating early-stage metrics for information on capacities and efficiencies. Regulations and labelling services include assistance with certifications, support with Health Canada regulations, nutrition facts tables, allergen declarations, label requirements and more. What you need to know: The centre draws its expertise from its team of food and bioprocessing scientists, microbiologists, technologists, engineers and support staff. The centre also helps its clients connect with other development centres, labs, industry associations and funders. Notable News: BioFoodTech offers equipment for brewing and distilling, canning, cooking and baking, cutting/slicing/grinding, pasteurization, evaporating, filling/sealing/packaging, extracting, filtering, extruding, sanitizing and more. Get Involved: Contact BioFoodTech at ( 902) 368-5548 , or at biofoodtech@biofoodtech.ca , or reach out to our Regional Innovation Director for Atlantic Canada Tyson M acInnis .
Community Manager-
AI + Food – Unilever
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . Canadian food, beverage and foodtech companies are using AI to solve a wide variety of industry challenges, including improving efficiency, pricing analysis, inventory management, quality control, food safety assurance and more. In this installment, we’re looking at Unilever . What They Do Unilever is a multinational consumer packaged goods company, with numerous food brands including Breyers, Lipton, and Knorr. How They’re Using AI Unilever uses AI for a number of reason s, including : T o increase efficiency and transparency, and analyze consumer data . To help identify alternative ingredients that can strengthen the resilience of their supply chain, making formulations more sustainable and cost-efficient, and simplifying them by reducing the number of ingredients without impacting a product’s quality or effectiveness. By optimizing design and manufacturing processes through virtual simulations, automated workflows and data-led decision making, to increase efficiency and performance. T o power next-level innovation, product reformulations, scientific discovery and portfolio simplification. In the Media Consumer Goods Technology - How Unilever Is Transforming Ice Cream With AI Unilever has incorporated image capture and artificial intelligence technology within 50,000 of its freezers, helping them manage stock levels, submit orders seamlessly, and alert stores when it’s time to restock. Food Navigator – How Unilever is Using AI and Big Data to Transform its Food Portfolio Unilever is using A I , big data and digital modelling to work smarter on new product development.
Community Manager-
IN 30: Newsletters
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . Sometimes, all it takes is 30 minutes to learn the ins and outs of new food technologies and trends that are transforming the food and beverage industry. In this series, we’ll dig into a food innovation topic and link you to content and resources so you can become a master on the topic in 30 minutes (or less!). This week we’re looking at food and foodtech -related enewsletters you should know about. BCFT Tech Talk Newsletter – A monthly enewsletter covering i nnovations, trends, and breakthroughs shaping the future of food. Canadian Grocer daily Express Newsletter – The enewsletter of Canadian Grocer magazine covers the Canadian grocery retail market. Edible Planet Ventures – The enewsletter from Edible Planet Ventures features articles on g roundbreaking innovations , multimillion-dollar startup funding, strategic partnerships, and new product launches . The Evolution – Canadian Business ’ en ewsletter offers articles on Canadian innovation. Food and Beverage Atlantic – A bi-monthly newsletter featuring innovations and news from the Atlantic region. Food and Beverage Canada – The enewsletter of Food and Beverage Canada offers information on trends, innovations and industry news. Food Business News – Food Business News covers news and developments in the food industry. Food for Thought - A newsletter from Canadian food marketing firm Nourish. Food in Canada - Food in Canada magazine’s enewsletter covers t he Canadian food and beverage manufacturing industry. Food Dive's daily/weekly newsletter – The Food Dive presents information on food manufacturing, packaging, ingredients, R&D, flavo u r trends and more. The Food Institute’s Newsletters – The Food Institute covers news and trends in the food industry, the plant-based product sector, and the retail industry. Food Navigator - Food Navigator offers several enewsletters focused on different sectors of the food industry. FoodHack - A global community for food entrepreneurs and innovators. Foodtech Insights – The enewsletter of the DigitalFoodLab includes trends, advancements, and opportunities shaping the food system. Funding Snapshot Weekly Newsletter – Mentor Works’ enewsletter offers the latest on Canadian government funding program details , funding tools, success stories and other r esources for Canadian SMEs. Grocery Business' newsletter – The enewsletter of Grocery Business magazine covers the Canadian grocery retail sector. IFT’s newsletters and alerts. – The latest research, insights, and trends , presented by IFT. Natural Product Canada - Natural Product Canada’s enewsletter presents information on innovative and sustainable products. New Food – A food and beverage resource on LinkedIn. The Peak – This enewsletter covers Canadian business, technology and finance. Protein Industries Cluster – The enewsletter from the Protein Industries Cluster offers the latest information on alternative proteins . The Spoon Newsletter - The Spoon enewsletter features new technologies and business models changing the food business.
Community Manager-
Return to Sender
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . CFIN and cybersecurity firm Beauceron have partnered to deliver a three-part webinar series on cybersecurity threats in the food and beverage industry. These webinars, made exclusively for CFIN members, dive into how cybercriminals target food and beverage companies and foodtech businesses, and offer actionable steps to protect your business from unwanted threats. In part three of the series Tyson MacInnis , CFIN’s Regional Innovation Director for Atlantic Canada, sat down with David Shipley, CEO and co-founder of Beauceron Security, and Vidya ShankarNarayan , CIO and Assistant Deputy Minister, Information Systems Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, to discuss business email compromise and how companies can protect their email systems from cyber attacks . Following the video are the top three takeaways.
Community Manager-
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is Putting a Priority on Cyber Resilience in Agriculture and Food
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . By Katherine MacDonald Have your company’s systems been compromised by cybercriminals? As agricultural and agri-food businesses become more and more digitized and connected online, the risk of cyber threats increases. Cyber - attacks can interrupt key services, affect consumer trust and hurt profitability. This Cyber Security Awareness Month, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) joins other departments and organizations to encourage businesses to Get Cyber Safe and put cyber security measures in place to prevent business disruptions. Find out more on how to minimize cyber risks on AAFC’s website . While the information is mainly aimed at farming businesses, the practical steps and resources can work for all of us. But what does cyber resilience look like? Take a look at the Digital Governance Standards Institute’s Baseline Cyber Security Controls for Small and Medium Organizations . This is a National Standard for Canada and provides requirements broken down into two levels: Level 1 requirements are intended for smaller organizations that are just starting their cyber security journey; Level 2 requirements help organizations mature their cyber posture further. Meeting the Level 1 or Level 2 requirements from the standard does not guarantee protection against hackers, but it will help improve your cyber posture. For example, Level 1 requirements include training employees on effective use of passwords, the identification of malicious emails, and the safe use of social media. They include having an incident response plan in place for businesses to either manage cyber incidents on their own or knowing who to contact for help. The requirements also include enabling anti-malware software, automatic patching for all software and hardware, and secure backup systems. The Standard also provides a number of templates and tools to help businesses meet requirements, including a self-assessment questionnaire to help businesses identify areas of particular risk. Finally, the Standard is undergoing a periodic review and the Digital Governance Standards Institute invites interested stakeholders to provide their comments. Visit their website to get involved. For more information on what Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is doing to support cyber resilience in agriculture and agri-food, contact aafc.Dig i talIntegration-IntegrationNumerique.aac@agr.gc.ca Stay cyber secure! Katherine MacDonald is D irector G eneral, Strategic Management, Information Systems Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
