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
News File – August 12
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: New SDTC Seed Funding Winners announced, with a few CFIN members! | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) at my local Loblaws supermarket | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) Fermentation Expertise abounds in Quebec! | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) Around the Food World BioEnterprises’ FoodShift Program is now accepting applications from Ontario-based food businesses looking for funding to adopt clean technology projects. Researchers at Oxford University in England have established a rating method to help food companies better measure their environmental impact. Shorr’s The 2022 Sustainable Packaging Consumer Report reveals that 76% of US consumers are making an effort to purchase more sustainable products. A coalition of plastics manufacturers is challenging the government’s single-use plastics ban. Did you know? A new study from WorkJam shows that businesses across all industries are currently more concerned with labour issues than supply chain challenges. The study of executives worldwide in 21 industries found that: 48% of respondents said labour shortages were their biggest operational concern, followed by employee turnover (31%), workplace stress (10%), and supply chain issues (nine per cent). 30% said employee retention is their current top priority, followed by attracting talent (28%), upskilling staff (20%), improving operating efficiency (12%), and better customer service (seven per cent). Scheduling flexibility is the number-one area respondents said employees would like to see improvements in (57%), followed by meaningful work (54%), compensation (53%), schedule predictability (49%), growth (46%), company culture (45%), and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives (17%). Respondents said pay increases (60%) and perks (50%) are the top two ways companies are trying to improve retention, while 41% cited sharing employees across locations and regions. For more on attracting and retaining skilled employees, check out this discussion .
Community Manager-
Challenge: Auditing your operations and moving towards a circular economy for plastics (Part I)
@Carolyn Cooper sat down with Michelle Saunders, vice president of Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP) to discuss how food businesses can begin to move towards a circular economy for plastics.
Community Manager-
CFIN Member Spotlight – Index BioSystems
This is the first in a series of interviews with CFIN member companies that have successfully applied for and received funding . Toronto, ON-based Index BioSystems Inc. produces BioTags that allow food and ingredients to be tracked as they move through the supply chain. The company is receiving $92,790.01 in funding through CFIN’s Innovation Booster program to complete a pilot project that aligns with CFIN’s agile and safe supply chains priority. We sat down with CEO Mike Borg to find out more about the company’s plans. Q: What does Index BioSystems do, and how are your improving the food industry? A: We use biotechnology to turn baker’s yeast into microscopic barcodes called BioTags. BioTags can be applied directly to food products and ingredients, while creating a secure link between a physical product and its supply chain data. This is especially important for high-volume commodity products like grain, which lose their identity as they’re co-mingled in the supply chain. BioTags enable true supply chain digitization where the source-of-origin, sustainable production methods and other critical authenticity data can be directly linked to a product itself. Q: What is Index BioSystems’ mission? A: We’re using biotechnology to imprint identity onto products, enabling brands to deliver a more secure and sustainable future. Q: Why did you apply for this funding, and how will you use it? A: Index is collaborating with industry partners to optimize an automated BioTag application system to BioTag grain and allow us to track grain through the value chain. This pilot will determine the optimal method of applying BioTags to grain products so these supply chains can truly be digitized. CFIN’s Innovation Booster will help us overcome remaining technical hurdles before commercial deployment, and the success of this project is a critical step towards the implementation of BioTags into Canada’s commodity supply chains. Q: What excites you most about working in this area of the food industry? A: Supply chains have been designed to combine commodities, such as grain, for processing and global distribution. This system doesn’t allow for the identity preservation of premium products unless they are segregated from their non-premium counterparts. BioTags allow you to differentiate between products that were previously unidentifiable and suffered from challenges related to ESG and sustainability. This means we can create premiums for value-add commodity products to improve quality control and reduce counterfeiting, and that’s an exciting frontier in the food industry. Q: Why do you think public funding is important in helping companies clear innovation hurdles and access leveraged funds? A: Startups need to be nimble in response to market opportunities, and public funding opportunities like CFIN’s Innovation Booster allow startups to make technical progress that is critical for commercialization success. Support from CFIN on this project allows us to move quickly with our partners, and ultimately increases our chances of success. Q: Looking ahead, what’s on the horizon for Index BioSystems? A: We’ve launched our next capital raise and are in the process of moving into a larger lab facility and growing our team. We’re now completing trials at commodity scale, where dozens of metric tons of product have been BioTagged. This sets us up for exciting trials in food retail, primary agriculture and pharmaceuticals. Q: What are your passions or hobbies outside of work? A: Winter sports are a favourite past time, especially hockey and snowboarding. I play on three different hockey teams and also coach my son’s team which is a lot of fun. We live right near a pond so we’ll often go out and practice together once it freezes over in the winter. Q: If you had to pick one person to make you a meal, who would you choose? A: Matty Matheson Ready to access funding for your innovative initiative? Click here to find out more about CFIN’s funding programs.
Community Manager-
CFIN survey on plastics use in the food industry: Top five key learnings
Plastics reduction and disposal is a hot topic in many industries, including ours. But because we need to move forward and find solutions, we recently surveyed our members to find out where they stand in their intentions and actions to eliminate plastic as we know it today. The results speak for themselves! Here's what we've learned from you about the subject: Key learning #1 There’s clearly a need for sustainable alternatives to plastics. 62% of Canadian food companies see an increase in requests for more sustainable alternatives. Key learning #2 Finding solutions is a priority for most companies, and many are already turning this into action. It’s a corporate priority for 73% of our respondents and 65% are already working on it. This is great news! Key learning #3 Food companies are exploring a diversity of options. Alternative materials and compostable plastics are the top two options mentioned. It’s also interesting to see that plastic is not systematically pushed aside: 16% of respondents explored higher quality/more recyclable plastics instead of trying to replace it. Could that be a more accessible, yet sustainable way to reduce plastics…? Key learning #4 The main barrier to adopting solutions is money - either the existing solutions are too expensive or the companies don’t have the budget to invest in finding solutions. The lack of solutions suitable for one’s products, equipment and/or needs, the lack of time to search for solutions, and the lack of knowledge around who can help are other important barriers, with all three scoring equally. Key learning #5 Google and research centres (including academia) are companies’ best friends when it comes to finding info on plastics reduction. Suppliers and collaborators are also a good source of info. And CFIN is now one to! Finally, although the topic is quite new, several great resources already exist to support your work towards plastics reduction and elimination. The Canada Plastics Pact (CPP) is one of them. The non-for-profit organization and member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Global Plastics Pact network, “unites diverse leaders and experts in the national plastics value chain to collaborate and rethink the way we design, use, and reuse plastic packaging to realize a circular economy for plastic in Canada.” Unfortunately, the CPP doesn’t seem to be on the radar for most Canadian food companies, with 79% of respondents saying they have never heard of it. For more on the CPP read CFIN’s article Explained: The Canada Plastics Pact . Watch for more results from CFIN’s plastic usage survey in coming weeks.
Community Manager-
The Tablesetter – August 8
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 This week watch for articles and videos on: Monday: The Tablesetter – August 8 Tuesday: Highlights of CFIN’s survey on plastic use in the food industry Wednesday: Member Profile – Index BioSystems Thursday: C hallenge - Auditing your operations and moving towards a circular economy, Part 1 Friday: News File Something to Celebrate August 12 th is Shop Online for Groceries Day! Online grocery sales may have received a big boost during the pandemic, but the ability to purchase food online has been around since 1994 and the early days of the “information highway” (aka the Internet). The first online food order was completed through Pizza Hut’s digital ordering hub that same year, while the first online grocery store, Webvan, launched in 1995. Food Facts In July 2022 delivery service DoorDash released its 2022 Restaurant Online Ordering Trends report , looking at how food ordering and dining has changed in the past two years, as well as forecasts for 2022 and beyond. Here are a few of its key findings: Canadian restaurant delivery revenues were nearly $7 billion in 2021, a 90-per-cent increase over 2019. 86 per cent of diners are still ordering food for takeout/pickup as much or more than they did in 2021, while 83 per cent are ordering delivery a much or more as they did last year. When ordering food for delivery, only 18 per cent of consumers prefer to call a restaurant directly. Instead 31 per cent like ordering through the restaurant’s website or app, and 48 per cent prefer to order through a third-party system or app such as DoorDash. The number-one reason consumers report trying a new menu item for delivery was attractive price, followed by boredom with their usual orders, and treating themselves with an indulgence. Baked goods were the most widely ordered delivery item in Canada between January and March 2022, followed by American food, dessert, Japanese, chicken, poutineries, Indian, alcohol, Mexican and Chinese food. Summer Reading List Got time on your hands this week? Check out what we’re reading these days: Supply Chain 4.0 – the next-generation digital supply chain The New Secret Chicken Recipe? Animal Cells US food supply chain: Disruptions and implications from COVID-19 Happy YODLing!
Community Manager-
News File – August 5
Each Friday we’ll bring you a roundup of news from CFIN, YODL and around the food world. As seen on YODL Did you notice we added a YODL Menu widget to our homepage? Now you can easily access all our articles and keep track of what’s coming up. Check out this week’s most viewed discussions: Fermentation Expertise abounds in Quebec! (open forum) Artificial Intelligence in the Food Business (open forum) Should Alternative Protein Companies Target Flexitarians or Just Market to Everyone? Around the Food World Technomic has published its mid-year update of Canadian foodservice trends. Oli-Tec has developed temperature indicator label technology that will help consumers make smarter choices around food waste. Microplastics have been found in bottled water. Did you know? Plastics are everywhere in the food industry, including in products such as silken tea bags made of PET or nylon, and chewing gum, most of which is made from petroleum-based chemicals. There are currently several plant-based, plastic-free gums on the market, including Canada’s Pür , which produces a range of vegan, gluten-free, nut/soy-free, allergen-free, and aspartame-free gum and mints. And last year UK start-up company Milliways launched a plant-based chewing gum specifically marketed as plastic free and 100 per cent biodegradable.
What is it? The Canada Plastics Pact (CPP) is an independent, not-for-profit organization working with Canadian businesses, policymakers, associations and NGOs to create a circular economy for plastic packaging by 2030. It’s part of The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Plastics Pact Network which connects initiatives around the world in an aligned response to plastic waste and pollution. By working with diverse companies and experts in the plastics value chain, the CPP hopes to help businesses rethink how plastic packaging is designed, used and reused. The CPP’s mandate is to: Focus on the root causes of plastics pollution; Work collaboratively across the supply value chain to ensure industries remove plastic waste system wide; Mobilize and align stakeholders at the local, national and global level to work toward a common vision; and Harness and amplify skills, expertise and leadership among stakeholders while fostering innovation and solutions. Why you should care Canada has committed to removing plastic waste and pollution from our landfills, water, and environment, while moving toward a circular economy for plastic. As well as drastically reducing plastic waste and pollution , the CPP estimates that a circular economy would save up to $500 million annually, create tens of thousands of jobs, and substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions. And with the ban on single-use plastics coming into effect beginning by December 2022, food industry operators should already be looking at how to eliminate plastic waste in their businesses. Moving away from plastic packaging To help companies adjust their packaging and work towards a circular economy for plastics, in April 2022 the CPP introduced the Golden Design Rules for plastics packaging and a microsite offering context-specific guidance tailored to Canadian businesses. The rules offer global standards aligned with guidelines and targets laid out in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment . In July 2022, the CPP published its 2020 Baseline Report outlining the organization’s targets and plans for the next three years. They include: Supporting innovation on plastic packaging that can be safety reused, recycled or composted; Ensuring at least 50 per cent of plastic packaging is recycled or composted by 2025; Creating a list of problematic packaging and taking measures to eliminate them by 2025; and Ensuring an average of at least 30 per cent recycled content in all plastic packaging by 2025.
Community Manager-
EXPLAINED: Canada’s plastic problem
What is it? Canadians throw away a shocking 4.4 million tonnes of plastic waste annually , but only about eight per cent of that is recycled. Instead, roughly 91 per cent of plastic waste ends up as landfill, while about one per cent ends up as water and environmental pollution. Like other sectors, the food industry relies on plastic, in many different forms, for a variety of uses, from component parts in machinery, to single-use testing products, through to primary and secondary packaging, and end user products such as bags, straws and utensils. Now consumers and government are calling on food manufacturers, grocers and foodservice operators to help cut plastic waste by eliminating single-use plastics and unnecessary plastic packaging when safe to do so. Why you should care The federal government has committed to reaching a goal of zero plastic waste by 2030, beginning by banning single-use plastics. The Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations come into effect beginning in December 2022, with staggered deadlines until June 2024, and will prohibit the manufacture, import and sale of six single-use plastic items: plastic checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware containing problematic plastics, ring carriers, stir sticks, and straws (single-use plastic flexible straws can remain available, under certain conditions, for people who need them). Where to start For food industry operators unsure of how to begin the process of moving away from single-use plastic products, the federal government has developed Guidance for selecting alternatives to the single-use plastics in the proposed Single-Use Plastics Prohibition Regulations . In addition, to help address concerns around recycling programs, the government has launched two consultations to develop rules for recyclability and compostability labelling, and to establish a federal plastics registry for producers of plastic products. CFIN’s plastics coverage Over the next few weeks we’ll be taking a closer look at plastics in the food industry, and how operators can begin to transition away from their use. Watch for articles and videos on: The circular economy Accessing funding for non-plastic packaging Finding packaging partners Innovation and R&D in plastic alternatives Recyclable plastics New packaging materials CFIN’s exclusive member survey on plastics use
Community Manager-
The Tablesetter – August 1
Happy Monday, CFIN members! Here's your weekly heads up on what’s happening on YODL and around the food world this week. Did you notice we added a YODL Menu widget to our homepage? Now you can easily access all of our articles and keep track of what’s coming up. The YODL Menu This week watch for articles or videos on: Monday: The Tablesetter – August 1 Tuesday: The problem with plastics Wednesday: Explained: The Canada Plastics Pact Thursday: Guest Blog - Packaging Misconceptions Unwrapped Friday: News File Something to Celebrate August 5 is International Beer Day! Since its kickoff in California in 2007 the celebration has grown to include events in 80 countries and 207 cities. As well as commemorating all things beer, the day recognizes brewers, bartenders and servers. Food Facts Beer is the number-one alcoholic preference among Canadians, so it shouldn’t be surprising that a Statista survey shows there were 830 licenced breweries in Canada as of December 2021: 263 in Ontario, 185 in BC, and 146 in Quebec, 89 in Alberta, 49 in Nova Scotia; 32 in New Brunswick, 20 in Saskatchewan, 19 in Manitoba, 15 in Newfoundland and Labrador, eight in PEI, three in Yukon, and one in Nunavut. Summer Reading List Got time on your hands this week? Check out what we’re reading these days: Predicting the Future of Food Plant-Based Food Startup Uses AI to Solve Supply Chain Woes 2021 Supply Chain Technology Trends To Watch Happy YODLing!
Community Manager-
News File – July 29
Each Friday we’ll bring you a roundup of news from CFIN, YODL and around the food world. As seen on YODL Did you notice we added a YODL Menu widget to our homepage? Now you can easily access all of our articles and keep track of what’s coming up. Check out this week’s most viewed discussions: Artificial Intelligence in the Food Business Pesky Plastics - How will we get rid of them? Lets showcase our great Food Innovation Ecosystem in Atlantic Canada | Regional Community Around the Food World Sobeys has announced Eco Guardian as the winner of its Plastic Waste Challenge. Team Canada placed second at the Bocuse d’Or continental finals in Santiago, Chile, qualifying them for a place at the 2023 finals in Lyon, France. Arva, ON’s Arva Flour Mills has acquired the Red River Cereal Brand from Smucker Foods of Canada Corp. Did you know? Tomorrow is Food Day Canada ! Here’s what CFIN staff from across the country will be cooking and dining on tomorrow! Tag yourself online with #FoodDayCanada, and let us know how you’ll be celebrating! Not sure what to make for Food Day Canada? Why not try @Dana McCauley’s recipe for Simple Seafood Salad with shellfish from the Atlantic or Pacific coast? #Fooddaycanada #foodhistory
Community Manager-
What YOLDERs are saying – YODL's Top 5 Discussions July 2022
Since launching in late June, YODL has generated a lot of buzz! In case you’ve missed them, we’re counting down the top five discussions that took place over the past month, listed by reader views and responses. Number 5 CFIN's Innovation Booster Intake Now Open - Focused on Food Ecosystem Sustainability projects | Open Forum Posted by @Alex Barlow Many of you wanted to know more about CFIN’s latest Innovation Booster, which looks at food ecosystem sustainability. Application deadline for the Booster is September 12, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Number 4 Could Plant-based Milk Eventually Replace Dairy Milk? | Open Forum Posted by @Doug Eatwell Plant-based products are coming down in price, while milk prices have risen – will this be the push Canadians need to explore plant-based milk substitutes? Number 3 Creating circular economy from food waste streams (Post farm produce and food scraps) | Open Forum Posted by @Zack Abdi Many YODLers want to know if creating a waste-free operation is possible – look for more articles on circular economies on YODL in coming weeks. Number 2 Digital transformation in food and beverage: why is it important? | Open Forum P osted by @Nestor Gomez Find out why digitization is necessary for the future of the Canadian food industry. Number 1 Should Start Ups Treat their Companies Like Products | Open Forum Posted by @Dana McCauley There was so much interest in the topic of mergers and acquisitions we followed up with a roundtable on the subject . What’s been your favourite article or discussion post on YODL so far? Let us know in the comments!
