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)
Community Manager-
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
Community Manager-
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.
Community Manager-
Other Articles
Lavina Gully
Sparking Connection with Lavina Gully, Regional Innovation Director – B.C. and Linda Fox, Regional Innovation Director, Ontario.
Julie Daigle
Sparking Connection with Julie Daigle, Regional Innovation Director – Quebec
Hubba Khatoon
Sparking Connection with Hubba Khatoon, Regional Innovation Director – Prairies
Gastronomous Technologies
How the Oakville foodtech company is helping restaurants integrate new smart machines into their existing kitchens.
CIFST ALT 2022
How CFIN partnered with the Canadian Institute of Food Science Technologists to host the first-ever in-person edition of CIFST ALT 2022
Canada's Cellular Food Ecosystem
How CFIN partnered with industry leaders to showcase the enormous potential of Canada's burgeoning cellular food industry.
Happy New Year from the team at CFIN!
Happy New Year from the team at CFIN! Look for more original articles on funding, innovation and other issues affecting the food industry on YODL in January 2023! Happy YODLing in 2023!
Community Manager-
What YODLers are Saying – December 2022
It’s been cold outside, but YODL was hot in December! In case you missed them, here are the top five discussions taking place in the past month. Number 5 Co-Packing Opportunity | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) Many YODLers are looking for co-packers, judging by the popularity of posts regarding new co-packing opportunities. Number 4 Beverage Co-Packing/Production - Partner with Us! Beer // Wine // Spirits // CFIA // SFCR | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) Beverage companies are also seeking co-packers, especially when it comes to alcohol production. Number 3 2022 food industry problem and 2023 outlook? | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) What’s in store for the new year? Add your comments here! Number 2 Brewery and solar power | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) CFIN members are looking for innovative and cost-effective ways to add energy efficiency to their operations. Number 1 Canadian Collabs that Build Brands | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) Connecting and collaborating with food industry partners continues to be a top priority for CFIN members. What’s been your favourite article or discussion post on YODL so far? And if you haven’t joined the discussion yet, why not? Happy YODLing!
Community Manager-
What YODLers are Saying – The Top YODL Posts of 2022
Since launching earlier this year, YODL has become the food industry’s virtual meeting place for lively and informative industry-related discussions. In case you missed them, here are the top five discussions taking place in 2022. Number 5 Food packaging/Co Packer | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) CFIN members are looking for co-packing and other business opportunities on YODL. Number 4 Sustainable Market Share Index Report | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) Food companies want to know more about how to meet consumer and environmental concerns surrounding sustainability. Number 3 Canadian Collabs that Build Brands | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) The opportunity to connect and collaborate is one of the things CFIN members say they enjoy about YODL. Number 2 Nutritional Labelling Software/Translation Services - Reco's needed | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) Many CFIN members are looking for help with labelling requirements due to changing on packaging regulations. Number 1 Extended shelf life for fresh produce | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) CFIN members wanted to know more about BioShur’s alternative packaging material designed to extend the shelf life of fresh fruit and vegetables. What’s been your favourite article or discussion post on YODL so far? And if you haven’t joined the discussion yet, why not? Happy YODLing in 2023!
Community Manager-
What YODLers are Reading – The Most Viewed Articles of the Year
Did you know that there are more than 1,000 original articles on YODL covering issues affecting the food and beverage industry? Each day YODL is home to new content in the form of articles, surveys, virtual roundtables, infographics and more. In case you missed them, here are the most-read articles on YODL in 2022. Number 5 Robotics in Action Revisited (cfin-rcia.ca) On May 12, 2022 CFIN presented its second members-only event, Robotics in Action: Seeing is Believing . The event was sponsored by Farm Credit Canada and hosted by @Jim Beretta , president of Customer Attraction, a marketing consultancy which focuses on robotics, automation and applications. Number 4 Cybersecurity in the food sector – Top 3 Takeaways (cfin-rcia.ca) @Nestor Gomez , chief technology officer for CFIN, hosted a member-exclusive virtual event covering cybersecurity in the food and beverage industry, featuring Rozita Dara, principal investigator of data management and privacy governance research program at the University of Guelph, and David Shipley, CEO and co-founder of Beauceron Security. The discussion centred on why cybersecurity should be a priority for the industry, and how companies can protect their data. Number 3 CFIN Member Spotlight – Suppli (cfin-rcia.ca) Toronto, ON-based Suppli is making it easy for food vendors to swap in high-quality reusable food containers for their single-use containers in a way that drives additional revenue for those food vendors. Number 2 CFIN at One - Funding Innovation (cfin-rcia.ca) 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. Number 1 EXPLAINED: Compostable and Biodegradable Plastics (cfin-rcia.ca) When the federal government published the Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations in June 2022, some food retailers and producers were surprised to learn that the incoming ban on single-use plastic (SUP) products will extend to compostable plastic bags and those made with oxo-degradable plastic. Compostable and biodegradable plastic have been touted as an eco-friendly solution for food operators and grocers moving away from SUP bags and utensils. But there’s still confusion over the terms and how this type of plastic affects the environment. What’s been your favourite article or discussion post on YODL so far? And if you haven’t joined the discussion yet, why not? Happy YODLing in 2023!
Community Manager-
Happy Holidays from the Team at CFIN!
Happy holidays from the entire team at CFIN! Next week we’ll be counting down the top YODL articles and discussion posts of the year. Look for more original articles on innovation, funding and other issues affecting the food industry in January 2023!
Community Manager-
What’s on the Menu for the Holiday Season?
We asked our five Regional Innovation Directors (RIDs) what will be on their dinner menu for the holiday season. Here’s what they told us: Lavina Gully, BC and Yukon I’m late to the trend but I’m thinking of some themed grazing boards. Hubba Khatoon, Prairies In our home, we are die-hard fans of hot and sour soup. We have a family recipe that makes the most authentic hot and sour soup you’ve ever had, and yet…way better than a few take-out places combined. It’s definitely a staple item on our dinner menu during holiday season! Linda Fox, Ontario A crown roast of pork with two types of potatoes, red cabbage, pickled beets (all very traditional Danish fare) along with a special dessert flan that includes many tiny pieces of almonds, but only one whole one, which gets the lucky diner a prize at the end of the meal. Of course, no one ever lets on that they’ve found it until all the dessert is eaten! That’s Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day we nibble at all the sweets and savouries throughout the day then have a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Always followed by starting up a big ol’ pot of turkey soup afterwards. Best of the season to everyone – however you celebrate it! Julie Daigle, Quebec A non-traditional dinner! Celebrating should be and can be healthy! No days off for taking care of my family’s health. There are so many creative and delicious recipes. I don’t yet know the menu, but it will surely include fish, seafood, lots of vegetables and decadent fruit desserts! Tyson MacInnis, Atlantic Canada Our Christmas eve tradition starts off with a family hockey game with lots of treats and banter to share after the game, from homemade almond bark and fudge to Jane & Sue’s Chocolates, and one year my cousin brought some of The Handpie Co.’s amazing hand pies. Later in the day, bacon-wrapped scallops with a glass of Nova 7 or a craft beer from Lone Oak or Bogside are usually part of the mix as the Santa tracker gets into full gear. On Christmas, we have a traditional turkey dinner at our house, followed by my father’s homemade ice cream, so many homemade dessert options, and PEI Preserve Co.’s famous Raspberry Cream Cheese Pie!
