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
50 Canadian FoodTech Resources – INAF’s In Vitro Digestion Platform
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: The In Vitro Digestion Platform , part of INAF (Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods) at Laval University in Quebec City, QC. Focus: The lab studies the impact of the digestion system on bioactive compounds. Mission: To carry out realistic preclinical studies on the impacts of digestion and microbiota on healthy ingredients or functional foods. Services: Research on digestion and inaccessibility of dietary fibre, nutrients, and proteins, research on probiotics, encapsulated molecules, and more. What you need to know: The lab offers five digestion models to study digestion and to simulate gut flora, including TIM-1, a sophisticated in vitro unit which simulates digestion conditions in the stomach and small intestine. Bioreactors used in conjunction are used to simulate the physiological conditions of the large intestine. According to the lab, the simulation allows researchers to see the proportion of assimilated molecules, to test galenic formulas, to evaluate the potential of pre- and probiotics, to identify the metabolites produced during digestion and to determine the influence of the compound or its derivatives on the intestinal microbiota. The lab’s digestion model allows food companies to conduct preclinical studies without the use of animal or human studies, with controllable digestion parameters, easy sampling, highly reproductible results, and reduced costs. Notable Numbers: The lab has delivered approximately 40 large-scale projects and 10 industry-funded projects in the past six years. Some examples of completed projects include: The determination of antioxidants in berry juices to optimize the fortification parameters of a specialized beverage for a company; the determination of several bioactive molecules in broccoli grown in different ways to establish the most optimal cultivation methods to improve their nutritional value; and verification of the bioavailability of antioxidant molecules in blood plasma and tissues after consumption of healthy ingredients. Get involved: Contact INAF at info@inaf.ulaval.ca or reach out to CFIN's Regional Innovation Director (Quebec), Julie Daigle .
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Guest Blog - SKUFood's Trends for 2023
The food and beverage industry continues to evolve at an accelerated pace with inflation dominating the shopping experience. We see retailers like Walmart offering holiday items at 2021 prices and the No Name price freeze from Loblaw. One thing that does not change is consumers can vote at the cash register each week. We have to stay on top of the changes and look to the future to ensure your food and beverage business is positioned for the future. We have some trends for you to consider as we get into 2023. We approach this a bit differently than some of the other trend reports you see out there, as our trends are developed for suppliers in the food and beverage industry. They are based on what we learn talking to different retailers, suppliers and stakeholders in the industry. Our top 10 trends for suppliers in food and beverage for 2023 1. Calm focus on the priorities: Everyone has endured two to three years of upheaval and challenges to get products produced. Retailers are looking to work with suppliers who are focused on how they can get it done as opposed to the reasons why they can’t. 2. Sales growth is key: With consumers returning to food service, retailers are facing negative comparable sales. Any supplier who delivers positive year over year growth will be ahead of many. 3. Stability in product cost: Food inflation is a big issue and retailers are eager to work with suppliers who find a way to keep their costs in line and deliver stability. 4. Local products that sell: Retailers have allocated more space and resources to regional and local brands. Now they need to see them deliver sales. 5. Sustainability matters: Sustainable packaging, reduced food waste and your environmental footprint all matter. They can be a path to the shelf or your route off the shelf if someone else in your category figures it out. 6. Next generation of plant-based products: It has been enough to be plant-based, now the products need to taste good and sell. There are opportunities for products that perform like the products they are designed to replace. Plant-based is not enough anymore. 7. Reduce logistics costs: Products need to get from where they are produced to the shelf and it is costing more all the time. Retailers might entertain creative solutions such as fewer deliveries of more products, to share some benefits. 8. Accountants will have more input: Retailers are facing higher interest rates like everyone else. The cost of inventory and when it is paid for will be under more focus and pushed to the limits. 9. Communication is evolving: Some retailers are back with in person meetings and others prefer video. Keep an open mind. Remember they are all different. 10 . Watch your category: With sales declines in retail, food inflation and focus on inventory, a lot might change. There could be a lot of pressure to drive private label, reduce SKUS and focus on items that sell. Spend time in the stores and talk to your customers about how to deliver sales growth. For more information visit SKUFood or contact Peter Chapman at peter@skufood.com. This article originally appeared on the SKU Food blog on December 19, 2022.
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The Tablesetter – January 9, 2023
Happy Monday CFIN members! Here’s your weekly heads up on what’s happening on YODL and around the food world this week. The YODL Menu Monday: The Tablesetter – January 9, 2022 Tuesday: Guest Blog - SKUFood Trends for 2023 Wednesday: 50 Canadian FoodTech Resources - INAF’s In Vitro Digestion Platform Thursday: Double Benefit: Innovative Canadian companies are impacting our economy and food security in positive ways Friday: News File Something to Celebrate This is National Mocktail Week! The annual celebration takes place the second week of January, this year between January 8 to 14. Many Canadians opt for a dry January, or at least a week without alcohol, after the holiday season. And according to a Canadian Press article , one in five consumers are already drinking less than they did pre-pandemic. Food Facts Technomic recently released its Canadian foodservice trends forecast What We Foresee for 2023 , and its 2023 Global Restaurant Trend Forecast . Some of the foodservice trends and predictions Technomic sees for this year include: A return to traditional menus and ordering from technologies such as QR codes; Loyalty programs will become crucial to driving interest among younger consumers; Menus highlighting Central and South American cuisines, food preservation methods, and nostalgic health cues; Takeaway service will increase at the detriment of delivery; Global street foods, especially food from Lebanon, will become more popular; The plant-based movement will continue to evolve in 2023. Happy YODLing!
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News File – January 6, 2023
Each Friday we’ll bring you a roundup of news from CFIN, YODL and around the food world. As seen on YODL Check out this week’s most viewed discussions: Today Canada's ban of some single use plastics takes effect - how does it impact your business? | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) Research on value-added biotechnology from grain byproducts | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) What to Know - Legal issues in co-packing and co-manufacturing | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) Around the Food World The Institute of Cellular Agriculture is now under development at the University of Alberta. Israel’s Celleste Bio is creating lab-grown cocoa ingredients using plant cell culture methods. Mushrooms are making headlines in food research. Did you Know? The Food Industry Association’s 2022 The Food Retailing Industry Speaks report shows that consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable with technology at the grocery store. The research shows that: 91% of food retailers now sell groceries online. 79% offer curbside pick-up of online orders. 55% offer home delivery of online orders. 96% of stores offer self-checkout lanes. 29% of transactions at food retailers were at self-checkout kiosks in 2020, compared to 23% in 2019. 52% of grocery stores offer scan-and-go technology. 15% of grocers use in-store technology such as robotics and AI. 44% of stores use or plan to use electronic shelf labels and tags.
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Innovation and Digital Solutions are Future-proofing Canada’s Food and Beverage Industry
A s Canada’s second largest manufacturing sector, the food and beverage industry is a significant contributor to Canada’s GDP, labour and export market. Canada’s food industry includes a wide range of vibrant sectors and jobs, from agrifood production and food and beverage processing, to grocery/retail and foodservice, as well as associated sectors such as transportation, equipment manufacturing, biotechnology and software. Like many sectors of Canada’s economy, more than two-thirds of the food industry’s businesses are SMEs. With relatively low barriers to entry and unlimited growth potential, the food industry offers considerable opportunities for entrepreneurship, and is an important driver of innovation and prosperity in Canada. Yet to continue to grow and remain internationally competitive, the industry needs to become more efficient and sustainable, with an emphasis on smart processes and product development. Investing in automation, digitization, Industry 4.0 practices and IT adoption would boost production capacity for food businesses, while optimizing both startup and scale ups, and creating skilled, high-paying jobs across Canada’s manufacturing sector. It would also help produce stronger, more nimble and traceable supply chains able to respond quickly to changing consumer demands or safety concerns. These sorts of changes have had much slower adoption rates in the food industry, but have the potential to be just as transformative. Digitization has the capacity to strengthen our food supply chains and make them more resilient against ongoing and future challenges. Supply Chain 4.0 solutions as they relate to food businesses include digitizing and automating key elements of operations, and applying Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, robotics, blockchain and data analytics to supply chain management in order to improve efficiency, traceability, performance and customer satisfaction. The last few years have revealed just how vulnerable the Canadian food supply chain is to disruption, and the resulting challenge it creates for our food companies. With new tools to address the increasing volatility in customer requirements and supply availability, while addressing overall efficiency improvement expectations and food safety needs, Canadian food companies will be a position to move products faster, with more flexibility, granularity, accuracy and ultimately with less risk of disruptions. After several years of suffering from supply chain disruptions, food companies are now beginning to invest in Supply Chain 4.0 solutions. In coming years look for technology that provides operators with real-time data analytics to help manage supply chain and inventory, allowing them to optimize the use of raw materials and energy, reduce waste, and achieve higher margins. Other challenges shifting the food landscape include labour shortages, climate change, higher raw material costs and rapidly changing consumer demands around food safety, transparency and delivery. Much of these challenges can be addressed by digitizing and automating processes. Food companies are already making incremental investments in elements of Industry 4.0 in order to create more transparent, agile and competitive operations . In the future expect to see automation being added to food manufacturing and foodservice in areas with repetitive tasks or where consistency and food safety is crucial, such as in healthcare . At the same time, IoT and IIot technology embedded with AI and machine learning, including robots, will begin appearing in facilities and foodservice kitchens. Over the next decade costs of implementing automatic systems and robotics will continue to fall, while performance and consistency increases. These robotic systems will do tasks that are repetitive but necessary, or which can be dangerous or dirty. You’ll also see collaborative robotic systems which are designed to work side-by-side with workers, who are then free to perform more skilled duties. Canada’s food industry is also working to become greener, to reduce food and plastics waste, packaging, energy use and carbon emissions, and build more socially and environmentally responsible, sustainable supply chains. Further investing in digitization and automation will help close this circular economy, from packaging and production through to waste disposal, while removing costs and inefficiencies throughout the process. Technologies like machine vision, data, robotics and automation are changing all aspects of the food industry. There are so many entrepreneurs in Canada who have great ideas for improving the food business, but we also know that they often struggle to find the partners, resources and funds they need to bring those ideas to market. In 2023 CFIN will continue to help make those ideas a reality through innovation challenges, funding and mentorship opportunities. Watch YODL for more announcements in coming weeks. This article originally appeared in FoodBev's December 2022 issue under the title " Lessons Learned from Canada ."
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Introducing 50 Canadian FoodTech Resources
Canada has an extensive range of food technology research centres, incubators, accelerators, and labs supporting food and beverage innovation through the research they do and/or the services they offer. These organizations in every region of the country are a significant resource for food entrepreneurs and operators in all sectors of the industry. Whether you’re looking to launch a new product, scale up your operation, explore new distribution opportunities, or remove plastic waste from your packaging, there’s a resource out there that can help. Each week throughout 2023 we’ll be highlighting an organization working to advance innovation in the Canadian food industry. For a sneak peak of our first innovation resource, check out the INAF (Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods) at Laval University in Quebec City, QC.
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CFIN at One Revisited
This article originally appeared on YODL as a three-part series beginning on October 12, 2022. Some numbers have been updated. After a full year of operations, CFIN has a lot to be proud of – from building a national organization in a virtual environment, to creating a community of food innovators, and funding innovative food projects across Canada. CEO @Joe Lake spoke with @CarolynCooper about some of CFIN’s accomplishments in 2022. Building an Organization CFIN was designed to operate as a virtual organization with national scope, with representatives spread across the country coming together online with one goal: to champion and catalyze food innovation across Canada. Differentiating CFIN from other funding organizations, which often focus on one region or sector, is the fact that CFIN has no limits. “Geographical or sectoral boundaries are usually irrelevant when it comes to innovation – innovation doesn’t know boundaries,” explains CEO Joe Lake. “Working virtually is a very different way of working that has become more normalized through COVID, but it goes back to about 2017, 2018, when the proposal for this organization was created. It’s by design” Lake says there are two key reasons CFIN was designed without a physical headquarters. “Brick and mortar in a particular location has the risk of signalling to that region that you have a kind of unconscious bias towards that area,” he says. “Plus the organization was always designed to be a blend of boots on the ground - people actually out there connecting – with technology used as a home base.” Building a team of full-time staff, including five regional innovation directors (RIDs), was CFIN’s first priority. Without the need to focus on a brick-and-mortar location, CFIN was able to hire 16 full-time employees with a rich variety of professional expertise and backgrounds, working virtually across every Canadian time zone. “What I’m most proud about is really getting this team together around the proverbial virtual table,” says Lake. “And even as a young group, the culture that we’re putting together, the ability for folks to contribute, and their passion being reflected back, is up there with some of the most exciting groups I’ve ever been part of in my working career. CFIN is a place where people feel like they can contribute and take part, and to me that’s just as important as what we’re doing as an organization. Because if an organization is not striving to be open and collaborative, it won’t be able to create an open and collaborative food innovation community. So that emphasis on bringing together the team for me is really exciting.” This culture extends to CFIN’s Executive Board and its subcommittee the Innovation Advisory Council (IAC). “They are responsible for the governance of developing and approving our program themes, and the program criteria, the way they’re assessed and how submissions are scored,” says Lake about the IAC. “This independent committee made up of experts advises CFIN to ensure that we are creating relevant programs and supporting the most impactful projects. And then in certain cases, such as for our Food Innovation Challenges, they are tied to the reviewing process as well. We’re hyper sensitive around issues like confidentiality and conflict of interest, like if you’ve golfed with this person at a charity event let’s be aware of that, did you work together in the same company 10 years ago? Because that’s not unusual in the food business, it’s not as big as you think.” When it came to hiring RIDs, Lake says the collective vision was for them “to be diverse in terms of geography, but also in terms of their experience in the food industry and also their personality types, their behaviour and skills. We thought of them almost like an ‘80s cartoon where they had their individual superpowers, but together they could rise up to form something greater,” laughs Lake. “You know, one’s got a business degree, one has entrepreneurial experience, one’s got marketing, one’s got an R&D technical, one’s got business development. So yes, the RIDs have regional representation, but the team is stronger together for that cross-sectional understanding. Collectively we are going to look at the whole industry and country. I think we achieved it fairly well.” Creating a Community There are now more than 2,300 CFIN members representing all regions of the country and every sector of the food and beverage industry. That number grew steadily throughout 2022, as the CFIN team connected with industry through social media, through articles in industry publications, attendance at countless industry events, and by presenting online experiences such as Robotics in Action and New Pathways to the Pantry. CFIN partnered with CIFST to present CIFST ALT, and the team participated in many in-person events this year that focus on innovation, including SIAL Canada, the Toronto Global Forum , the Advanced Design and Manufacturing Expo (ADM), and Protein Industry Canada’s Plant Forward event. In addition, RIDs are tasked with reaching out to the food industry to make connections, raise awareness of CFIN’s funding opportunities, and engaging in conversations with CFIN members. “We say boots on the ground a lot, which to me is more of a ranger mentality – you’re out there exploring and learning about the players, the influencers, but also what are the projects and priorities? What are the problems? What are the opportunities? And help bring all that information back into that national soup,” explains Lake. “And then we can help try and bridge and connect. Because we’re trying to create a community. To me, community is a little different than ecosystem, in the sense that you’re part of a community. You don’t have to necessarily be totally engaged all the time, but you’re still part of the community. And that’s the way we’re trying to design CFIN. We’re two-pronged: we fund and we build community. And we want people to come because they feel like they’re part of. We don’t want to just create a list of all these people that are accessible should you Google or phone them. That’s not quite the same to me.” A key part of creating a cross-country, cross-sector community has been YODL, an online platform designed exclusively for CFIN and designed to facilitate discussion and partnerships among members. With original daily content, collaboration opportunities, funding calls, and lively discussions, YODL is quickly becoming the place to look for potential business partners, network with other industry professionals, and learn about new innovations. “YODL was always designed as this digital hub, this centralized location that people could come to, but it was never designed or intended to be a database, just a listing of here’s the people who are members, browse this,” says Lake. “We always wanted it to be a place where there was a sense of members having control of their contributions, their engagement and activity.” The organization hired a third party to facilitate focus groups and needs assessment polling with industry stakeholders and put out a request for proposals from tech companies to design the platform. “And from there we ended up with the YODL platform that we have now. So, it’s one of those things where you kind of know where you’re going, but the path there is certainly windy. And the only thing that’s guaranteed is 12 months from now it’s going to be different. But we always wanted this to be a flexible kind of thing that even the community itself can help design and engage in.” Lake says the platform is also drawing companies on the periphery of food, which may have the technological solutions food operators are seeking. “We’re looking for innovation, and what’s cool and exciting from my perspective is it also expands beyond your typical players in food,” says Lake. “So, you can get companies who are doing data analytics and medicine, and they can pivot and turn their skill sets to food in a new way, or robotics from the automotive sector, or large manufacturing and apply it to food. There’s a lot of opportunity and ground to be gained in what I would say is collaboration. But we’re seeing it. And actually, it’s much easier and probably more efficient to get collaboration in the non-traditional manners, so a traditional food company with a non-traditional technology, because there’s no competition.” Funding Innovation One of CFIN’s mandates is to provide food and beverage companies access to funding for innovation. To date CFIN has invested more than $6.9 million through multiple funding calls under three programs: Innovation Booster, Food Innovation Challenge, and FoodTech Next. In total, CFIN has received more than 230 applications from across Canada. “What I’m quite proud of for the team, is the speed with which we were able to launch calls for proposals,” says Lake. “And again, we’re learning from those, we’ve got room to improve. I think one of the stories that articulates the spirit of the organization, the culture that we’re developing, was our Innovation Booster, which is inherently designed to be much more at the speed of business. They’re really quick, they’re fairly small. People still sort of dropped their jaw when we say we’re turning them around in 40 days – that’s unusual in most grant programs.” “But I’d say that’s probably a common theme for almost everything we’ve been moving forward, it’s pretty rapid,” adds Lake, “you know, more people, more attention, we’re growing quicker. And we’re getting that feedback. Generally, people don’t seek us out to tell us bad things. I’m sure there are people that don’t like what we’re doing, and I’d be curious to hear that and more importantly why? But the ones that are coming to us are generally celebrating going, ‘Hey, we didn’t quite have a home, or we didn’t know where to turn, or this is more of the kind of group that we’re looking for, or this is needed.’ So, it does seem like we’re hitting the right buttons for a lot of people.” Click here to see more about CFIN’s team, Board of Directors and Industry Advisory Council. Get in touch with one of CFIN’s RIDs in your region: @Lavina Gully (BC), @Hubba Khatoon (Prairies), @Linda Fox (Ontario), @Julie Daigle (Quebec), and @Tyson MacInnis (Atlantic). #oneyearanniversary #RIDs #FoodInnovation #Funding #CFINmembers
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Innodal
How this young, growing Quebec-based company extends the shelf life of food using clean-label natural antimicrobials.
Tyson MacInnis
Sparking Connection with Tyson MacInnis, Regional Innovation Director – Atlantic
Vivid Machines
How the Toronto startup is addressing labour challenges and strengthening supply chain from the farm gate to the consumer.
Ryan
Why CFIN and Ryan collaborated to launch the Funding Finder and help CFIN members access more than 4,000+ active funding opportunities
Ontario Genomics
Behind the partnership that launched AcCELLerate-ON -- Canada’s first regional competition for cellular food
