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Where Crunch Meets Clean Label: Sunflower Kernels for the Next Generation of Better-for-You Snacks
Canada’s healthy snacks market is experiencing strong growth. According to Grand View Research, the market generated $3,713.6 million (USD) in 2025 and is projected to reach $7,282.5 million (USD) by 2033, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.8% from 2026 to 2033.¹ The research also identifies Canada as the fastest-growing regional market in North America, highlighting significant opportunities for food manufacturers looking to innovate in the category. For food scientists and product developers, this growth presents a complex formulation challenge. Consumers increasingly seek snacks that deliver nutritional value, convenience and recognizable ingredients, without sacraficing the taste,texture and overall eating experience they expect. Success depends on balancing these priorities to create better-for-you products that satisfy both nutritional goals and consumer expectations. Why Texture Matters in Snack Innovation Texture is a powerful influence on how consumers experience food, shaping everything from first impressions to repeat purchases. Puratos’s Taste Tomorrow research found that nearly half of consumers prioritize texture over ingredients when purchasing food, while 68% of millennials say texture directly influences their choices.² Ingredion research further indicates that 70% of global consumers would switch to a different product or brand if they were dissatisfied with its texture.³ For snack food manufacturers, these findings underscore the importance of getting texture right from the outset. Crunch, crispness and contrast can help distinguish a product in a competitive market, while combinations of complementary textures can create a more engaging and premium eating experience. Innova Market Insights’ Global Texture Trends 2026 report highlights the appeal of combining textures such as creamy, crunchy, and soft. Its research also revealed that one in four consumers globally is interested in trying snacks in formats that are new to them.⁴ Together, these insights point to opportunities for food manufacturers to explore fresh ingredient combinations and textural experiences that make better-for-you snacks stand out. Where Sunflower Kernels Fit In U.S.-grown sunflower kernels give food manufacturers a practical way to build that contrast. Their mild flavour and satisfying crunch add dimension to both sweet and savoury product innovations without overpowering other ingredients. They also bring plant-based protein, fibre and healthy fats, along with vitamin E, zinc, folate, iron and magnesium, so the texture upgrade comes with a nutritional one. Available raw, roasted and ready-to-eat, sunflower kernels can be used across a wide range of applications, including: • Better-for-you snack bars • Granola and trail mixes • Crackers and savoury snacks • Bakery products and breakfast cereals • Plant-based snacks and bites Clean Label and Allergen-Friendly by Design Consumers worldwide are increasingly prioritizing clean-label products made with recognizable ingredients and greater transparency. Innova Market Insights reports that more than two in three consumers globally say they are at least somewhat influenced by clean ingredient decks, and that nearly one in three new products now carries some type of clean label claim.⁵ Innova also notes that non-GMO claims are most established in North America.⁵ Sunflower kernels are naturally non-GMO and sustainably grown, which supports the transparency and recognizable-ingredient positioning shoppers respond to. They are also an allergen-friendly alternative to tree nuts, delivering the crunch consumers expect from nuts and seeds. Unlike tree nuts, sunflower kernels are not considered a priority allergen in Canada, making them a versatile option for manufacturers developing new products or reformulating existing ones. Turning Texture Trends into Product Opportunities As Canada's healthy snacks market continues to expand, food manufacturers have an opportunity to differentiate their products through thoughtful ingredient choices and more engaging eating experiences. Texture is an important part of that equation, influencing consumer appeal while creating opportunities to innovate across familiar snack formats. U.S.-grown sunflower kernels bring together satisfying crunch, plant-based nutrition and application versatility, making them a valuable ingredient to consider for the next generation of healthy snacks. From bars and granola to crackers and savoury mixes, they can help product developers create food innovations that balance texture, taste and nutritional value. Explore how U.S.-grown sunflower kernels can add texture, nutrition and versatility to your next snack innovation. Connect with a supplier today > {link to lead to the NSA Kernel suppliers page} References: 1. Grand View Research, Canada Healthy Snacks Market Size & Outlook, 2026–2033. https://www.grandviewresearch.com/horizon/outlook/healthy-snacks-market/canada 2. Puratos, “Why texture is important in food,” February 19, 2025. https://www.puratos.com/blog/why-texture-is-important-in-food 3. Ingredion research, as reported in “New approaches to texture innovation,” Food Business News, May 7, 2026. https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/30275-new-approaches-to-texture-innovation
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)
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
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.
Other Articles
IN 30: Canada Day Reading List
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . Sometimes, all it takes is 30 minutes to learn the ins and outs of new food technologies and trends that are transforming the food and beverage industry. In this series, we’ll dig into a food innovation topic and link you to content and resources so you can become a master on the topic in 30 minutes (or less!). C anada Day is the perfect time to catch up on reading about Canadian cuisine, home-grown food and beverage products, and our vibrant ecosystem. Following are a few articles, facts and books we think you might enjoy. The Overview YODL - Coast-To-Coast Cuisine Commemorating Canada Day with facts on iconic Canadian cuisine and products. Canadian Grocer – Most Canadians plan to shop local this Canada Day: Survey Caddle and the Retail Council of Canada surveyed Canadians to better understand consumers’ shopping intentions around Canada Day. Ricardo C uisine – Our Best Canada Day Recipes The website offers more than 60 recipes from across Canada to help celebrate the holiday. YODL - Happy Canada Day Recipe Dana McCauley offers her recipe for traditional Greek salad, a cool complement for any Canada Day barbecue. Food Network Canada - Best Indigenous Recipes, How-Tos And Tips A roundup of Indigenous recipes and food producers. Overtime If you have more than 30 minutes, these are for you. Goodreads - Goodreads - Speaking in Cod Tongues: A Canadian Culinary Journey by Lenore Newman Dr. Lenore Newman of the University of the Fraser Valley offers a cross-country tour of Canadian cuisine. YouTube – This video from the Old Cookbook Show , featur es a recipe for Cottage Potato Pudding from The Cook Not Mad, or Rational Cooking , one of the earliest cookbooks available in Canada.
What YODLers are Saying and Reading – The Top YODL Content for June 2023
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . Summer is here, and YODL is the place to be for networking and information on industry issues, trends, events and more . In case you missed them, here are the top five discussions and most read articles on YODL in June 2023. Top YODL Discussions in June 2023 Number 5 Food Prep Job Postings Labour shortages are an ongoing challenge for many food businesses looking for employees. Number 4 UBC Food Science Program Seeking Industry Projects The UBC Food Science Department is recruit ing industry partners for a research project conducted by fourth year undergraduate students as part of a capstone course. Number 3 Co-packer chicken meals Looking for a co-packer? YODLers always have suggestions! Number 2 Our Favourite Food Newsletters We’re sharing our favourite food newsletters, starting with the enewsletter from Food in Canada magazine. Number 1 Newbie and starting a new line of food products. Any advice for a starter? YODL is the perfect place to network with other industry professionals , whether you’re starting a company, launching new products, scaling up, or growing your business . Most Read YODL Articles in April 2023 Number 5 IN 30: Food Apps Find out all you ever wanted to know about food apps, including apps for food ordering and delivery, grocery purchases, nutrition tracking , reducing food waste and more. Number 4 Explained: Personalized Nutrition As consumers increasingly embrace the concept of food as medicine, many are looking for customized solutions to treat or prevent illness and injury. Number 3 Parlons d'innovation: L’intelligence artificielle au service de l’industrie alimentaire In this French-language video Isabelle Marquis speaks with Michel Dubois, s enior d irector, AI Activation for the Mila Research Center, about artificial intelligence and its applications in the food industry. Number 2 IN 30 – Food as Medicine The concept of food as medicine is growing in popularity with consumers, leading innovators to develop software, ingredients, and products that aim to improve health and wellness. Number 1 Staff Picks – Lavina Gully Each week we profile a CFIN staff member to find out what they’re reading, listening to and posting about. In this article meet Lavina Gully, Regional Innovation Director for BC and Yukon.
Company Spotlight – Cibotica Inc.
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . This is one in a series of interviews with CFIN member companies that have successfully applied for and rece i ved funding . Vancouver, BC-based Cibotica Inc. is a technology company automating the food-making process with robotic solutions. Cibotica’s first product is Remy , a high-tech line cook that makes food preparation more efficient, accurate, and less labour intensive. The company’s goal is to make a restaurant owner’s life easier with fewer issues, less wast e , and less uncertainty , while creating a better industry and environment for all food industry collaborators. Cibotica received $90,741 in funding to help develop a food-safe version of a universal dispensing mechanism and associated control algorithms for use in the company’s robotic salad and bowl makeline. We talked with Cibotica’s executive team, Ashkan Mirnabavi , Soroush Sefidkar and Daryoush Sahebjavaher , to find out more about the project and the company’s plans. Q: What is your company’s mission? A: Our mission is to make food more accessible and affordable by creating a thriving food system which works better for restaurant owners, workers, and consumers. Q: Why did you apply for this funding and how will you use it? A: Food dispensing is the most challenging aspect of food robotics due to the inconsistency of ingredients. Current solutions are inconsistent, space-inefficient, and constraining. We are working on developing our food-safe universal dispensing system, the key ingredient to our automated solution. This agnostic dispenser can accurately measure ingredients of various sizes , shapes, textures and preparation methods. We applied for the CFIN Innovation Booster to support the development of this universal dispensing system and solve the restaurant industry’s challenges. Q: What excites you most about working in this area of the food industry? A: As restaurant owners who have experienced firsthand the daily challenges restaurants face , we are motivated to solve these issues using automation and robotics. Our knowledge of how to solve them with technology has led us to create Cibotica. This area of the food industry is evolving at a rapid pace, and we are excited to become one of the leaders in the industry. We are also excited to see the Canadian restaurant industry evolve to serve Canadians better. Q: Why is collaboration so important for accelerating innovation in the food industry? Is it difficult to find good collaborating partners, and what would make the process easier? A: Collaboration is crucial for accelerating innovation in the food industry. It brings together the expertise, resources and perspectives of others in order to improve existing processes and products. Finding good partners can be challenging, but when there is a shared vision, trust and excellent communication, collaboration comes easy. At Cibotica we are open to collaborations with other technologies to create a better food system for all. Q: Please comment on the importance of public funding to help companies clear innovation hurdles and access leveraged funds. A: Public funding is vital in helping companies overcome innovation hurdles by mitigating risks and addressing market failures. It provides financial resources for research and development, prototype development, and market validation, reducing risks associated with innovation. Additionally, public funding motivates companies to tackle complex problems and allows businesses to expand their teams and accelerate product development. Q: Looking ahead, what’s on the horizon for your company? A: While we currently concentrate on automating salad and bowl preparation, our bigger aim is to go beyond specific cuisines and expand into other areas of cooking. We aim to become the foremost provider of automation solutions for the restaurant industry and set new standards within this sector. Our universal dispensing technology is poised to become the preferred standard across diverse areas of the food industry, extending its reach beyond restaurants. Q: What are your passions or hobbies outside of work. A: Cooking, s ocializing over a culinary experience, s ports, h iking, and t ravelling . Q: If you had to pick one person to make you a meal, who would you choose? A: Remy from Ratatouille.
Let's talk innovation: RCIA innovates with new tools for its members
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . Welcome to Let’s talk innovation with Isabelle Marquis, a French-language video covering all areas of food innovation. Today, Isabelle speaks with Julie Daigle, Regional Director for Quebec, who presents four unique features of the YODL platform, including two new tools for finding funding or resources to support Canadian food innovators.
50 Canadian FoodTech Resources – Emergence
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . Canada has an extensive range of research centres, food incubators, accelerators and labs supporting food and beverage innovation through the research they do and/or the services they offer. Each week throughout 2023, we’ll be highlighting an organization that’s supporting food innovation in Canada. Name: Emergence Location: Charlottetown, PE Mission: Emergence is a bioscience incubator that accelerates the growth of Atlantic Canadian startups and early-stage companies moving from ideation to commercialization. Focus: The centre supports companies in Atlantic Canada specializing in products derived from technologies such as natural product chemistry, fermentation and downstream processing with applications in human and animal health and nutrition, and diagnostics. Services: Emergence helps companies throughout all stages of development through two different pathway s : The Critical Path Program supports bioscience companies from ideation to commercialization us ing a customized, one-on-one and team mentoring approach to map out the critical path to success . It also connects participants to the Emergence Performance Network , a group of third-party consultants specializing in topics such as business and product review, business planning and strategy, marketing , manufacturing systems optimization and more. The Team Mentorship Program matches companies with expert mentors to provide advice on key issues and strategic support relevant to the company’s stage of development to advance their business goals. What you need to know: The centre offers client s on-going support with product ideation, early commercialization, sustainable growth, and continued evolution in terms of new launches, market expansion, automation and process optimization . Notable News: One of Emergence’s clients is Fredericton, NB’s Chinova Bioworks , a foodtech company that uses upcycled mushroom stems to create a natural clean label preservative. The company and its CEO and co-founder Natasha Dhayagude were recently named in Natural Products Canada’s list Game Changers: Leading Companies. Powered by Women . Dhayagude is also a member of CFIN’s Board of Directors. Get Involved: Contact Emergence at (902) 367-4400 or at info@emergencebioincubator.com, or reach out to our Regional Innovation Director for Atlantic Canada Tyson MacInnis .
YODL Turns One!
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . It’s hard to believe that it’s been a full year since YODL launched on June 27 2022 , during CFIN’s first year of operations. The one-of-a-kind, interactive platform for Canadian food and beverage businesses , suppliers and other stakeholders is now home to hundreds of articles, discussions and videos on issues affecting the industry, from food waste and plastic removal, to cellular food and artificial intelligence. Check out the infographic below to see more on the ways YODL is changing how the food and beverage industry interacts. For more on how YODL and CFIN can help your business, contact your Regional Innovation Director.
CFIN Funded Projects: One Year Updates - Ag-Tronic Control Systems Inc.
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . CFIN has provided funding for many projects over the past two years. Now we’re catching up with the Canadian companies leading CFIN-funded projects to chat about how their innovations have advanced in the year since funding. In part one of the series, Hubba Khatoon, CFIN Regional Innovation Director for the Prairies, sits down with Derek Sorrell, Operations Manager at Ag-Tronic Control Systems Inc. , to discuss the development of the company's compostable fruit and vegetable labels.
IN 30: Atlantic Canada’s Food Ecosystem
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . Sometimes, all it takes is 30 minutes to learn the ins and outs of new food technologies and trends that are transforming the food and beverage industry. In this series, we’ll dig into a food innovation topic and link you to the best content and resources so you can become a master on the topic in 30 minutes (or less!). This week, we’re looking at food and beverage innovation and resources in Atlantic Canada. The Overview Government of New Brunswick - Atlantic Agriculture Research and Innovation Initiative The initiative aims to encourage Atlantic Canadian collaboration and provide financial assistance on research and innovation projects in the agriculture, agri- food and agri-product sectors in Atlantic Canada. University of Prince Edward Island - Strengthening Atlantic Canada’s plant-based food and ingredient ecosystem Protein Industries Canada announced a new project to grow the plant-based foods ecosystem in Atlantic Canada. Government of Newfoundland and Labrador – Our Food. Our Future The Department of Fisheries and Land Resources, Agriculture Production and Research Division, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Memorial University – Grenfell Campus are conducting agriculture and food related research in Newfoundland and Labrador. Government of Nova Scotia - Food and beverage strategy: engagement The Government of Nova Scotia is developing a food and beverage strategy that will help improve access to and increase the production of healthy, local food. YODL - From biowaste to sustainable packaging Atlantic Canada’s seafood industry is challenged with how to deal with processing by-products and waste more sustainably. YODL - Maritimes brewers, this one is for you! Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has announced a projec t led by Dr. Aaron Mills, r esearch s cientist at AAFC, that aims to grow malt barley varieties suitable for the Maritimes. Resources NRC Marine Research Station The Marine Research Station in Ketch Harbour, NS has experts in algal biology, marine biology, aquaculture, analytical chemistry, and applied nutrition. The algal research facility provides resources and expertise for the cultivation of seaweeds and microalgae to produce bioactives and other compounds. RPC Science & Engineering With locations in Fredericton and Moncton, NB , RPC offers research and development and technical services to clients in New Brunswick and in 30 countries around the world. Canada's Smartest Kitchen Canada’s Smartest Kitchen at Holland College in Charlottetown, PE is a food product development centre specializing in moving projects from concept to commercialization. It is also the research division of the Culinary Institute of Canada and an NSERC Technology Access Centre. Centre for Aquaculture and Seafood Development The Centre for Aquaculture and Seafood Development in St. John’s, NL offers t echnical services in seafood processing, aquaculture, and marine bioprocessing, in the areas of applied research, product and process development, advisory services, and training. BioFoodTech Charlottetown, PE’s BioFoodTech provides professional technical services to food and bioprocessing companies. Emergence Emergence is a bioscience incubator that accelerates the growth of Atlantic Canadian startups and early-stage companies moving from ideation to commercialization. The Verschuren Centre The Verschuren Centre in Sydney, NS is an independent, not-for-profit clean technology development and deployment facility offering a collaborative space that allows clients to advance technology cost-effectively, while having the support required on the path to commercialization. Companies you Should Know Chinova B ioworks The Fredericton , NB - based foodtech company uses upcycled white button mushroom stems to create a natural clean label preservative that is vegan, kosher, halal, and allergen-free . CleanBands Charlottetown, PE-based CleanBands is building handwashing compliance systems that help food workers ensure they are following handwashing policies. Copol International North Sydney, NS-based Copol International Ltd. manufactures cast polypropylene film for the flexible packaging industry, mostly for food packaging and often for high heat applications such as sterilizing. Milk Moovement Halifax, NS-based Milk Moovement creates supply chain management software for the dairy industry. Saltwinds Coffee Company Ltd. Douglas, NB-based Saltwinds Coffee Company’s aim is to offer a carbon neutral cup of coffee, something the company began by re-inventing coffee roasting itself to turn it into a zero-emission process. Overtime If you’ve got more than 30 minutes, these are for you: YODL - Blockchain and the Food Industry
Staff Picks – Ella Baker
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . A lot of material comes across our desks at CFIN, and we love to share new information with YODLers ! This one in a series of articles highlighting what CFIN staff are reading, listening to, watching, and posting. Here ’ s CFIN ’ s Administrative Specialist Ella Baker . What are You Reading! I am currently reading Relax : A Guide to Everyday Health Decisions with More Facts and Less Worry by Timothy Caulfield . T his book debunks a lot of daily myths which can cause unnecessary stress in our lives. With information consistently changing about how many cups of coffee you should drink, whether it’s safe for your kids to walk to school , and how many hours of sleep you should get, it provides a more relaxed approach so you can live your daily life without the stress. What are you listening to? I like listening to podcasts, and r ight now I am listening to Roz and Mocha at Kiss 92.5 . I f you want to laugh while you work I highly recommend it. Who are you following? I don’t really follow social media. What are you watching? I am watching a lot of videos on YODL so I can get caught up with what’s happening in this industry. A few of them include : AI and the Food Industry – An interview with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (AMII) The Future of Cellular Food Regulations in Canada Parlons d'innovation : Nouvelles initiatives d’étiquetage sur l’impact environnemental des aliments . What are you posting about? I don’t do social media! .
Company Spotlight – Freshline
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . This is one in a series of interviews with CFIN member companies that have successfully applied for and received funding . Vancouver, BC-based Freshline provides e-commerce software th at allows food distributors to receive wholesale orders digitally to streamline their processes and save on labour costs . Freshline received $83,908 in funding for a project to bring increased innovation to the global food distribution supply chain. The company is building out the core functionality of its B2B e-commerce platform to enable food distributors and retailers to transact online in new ways. We talked with Freshline co-founder and CEO Robert Kirstiuk to find out more about the project and the company’s plans. Q: What is your company’s mission ? A: To bring food distributors into the 21 st century, allowing them to operate their business more intelligently and efficiently , and u ltimately creating a more resilient food supply chain where specialized distributors can compete. Q: Why did you apply for this funding and how will you use it? A: We will use this funding to strengthen our product’s competitive edge in the space and add more value to the companies we work with. Q: What excites you most about working in this area of the food industry? A: We have seen a real, tangible impact of using our software to the bottom line of the food distributors we work with. We are very proud of this. Q: Why is collaboration so important for accelerating innovation in the food industry? Is it difficult to find good collaborating partners, and what would make the process easier? A: Food is a historically low-tech industry. By increasing collaboration we increase the likelihood of technology being adopted and succeeded in the food industry. Q: Please comment on the importance of public funding to help companies clear innovation hurdles and access leveraged funds. A: It ’ s super critical for this to be the case as it helps Canada maintain an edge in the modern world economy , and compounded and aggregated over decades this helps Canadians maintain a high standard of living. Q: Looking ahead, what’s on the horizon for your company? A: Hopefully more growth and an expanded product offering! Q: What are your passions or hobbies outside of work. A: I like to hike and go running! Q: If you had to pick one person to make you a meal, who would you choose? A: My Mom.
50 Canadian FoodTech Resources – Food & Beverage Innovation Centre at Niagara College
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . Canada has an extensive range of research centres, food incubators, accelerators and labs supporting food and beverage innovation through the research they do and/or the services they offer. Each week throughout 2023, we’ll be highlighting an organization that’s supporting food innovation in Canada. Name: Food & Beverage Innovation Centre at Niagara College ( formerly named the Canadian Food and Wine Institute Innovation Centre ) , Daniel J. Patterson Campus. Location: Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON Mission: The FBIC works with businesses and the community to provide real-world solutions through innovation activities. Focus: The centre offers services to support industry innovation and commercialization of new products and processes for food, beverages and cannabis edibles. Services: FBIC offers expertise in developing new food and beverage s , cannabis edibles and food science , including research for improving existing products, entering new product categories, increasing product quality and ease of operations, and assisting with ingredient sourcing, co-packing sourcing and packaging . Other R&D services include: providing guidance on food safety and regulatory standards; a small batch beverage processing pilot plant to support R&D and innovation; sensory analysis and consumer acceptance testing; hops analysis; and beverage analytical services to support commercialization of new products and processes for beer, cider, mead, kombucha, distillery and wine. Commercial services offered at FBIC include help with: market information, competitive analysis, prospect lists, advertising/marketing plan, exporting, and e-commerce and web design and development. What you need to know: FBIC offers an array of facilities, including: an R&D kitchen, beverage analytical labs; a beverage pilot processing plant; cannabis edibles R&D labs; chemistry lab; a shelf-life and packaging lab; artisanal distillery; brewery and hopyard; winery and vineyard; and industrial culinary kitchens. The centre’s staff includes faculty and student researchers from several programs at Niagara College , including Culinary Innovation and Food Technology, Culinary Management, Brewmaster , Brewery Operations Management, Artisan Distilling, Beverage Business Management, Winery and Viticulture Technician, and Wine Business Management. Notable News: This year Niagara College was named the number 1 top research college in Ontario and the number 2 top research college in Canada by Research Infosource Inc. in its annual Top 50 Research Colleges report. Get Involved: Contact Krystle Grimaldi, director, Research & Innovation, Daniel J. Patterson Campus, at 905 641-2252 ext. 4277 or research@niagaracollege.ca , or reach out to our Regional Innovation Director for Ontario, Linda Fox .
Guest Blog: Can AI help with Marketing and Communications?
Welcome to YODL! In addition to daily original content, YODL helps CFIN Members find new partners , resources , and funding opportunities to grow their food business. Learn more about this growing community and become a CFIN Member (for free!) today . We are all learning about the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) and the applications it might have in our industry. AI can be perceived as incredibly powerful and game changing or frightening and taking over what humans do . Regardless of your perspective , it is here and we are surrounded by examples of it. It is true we have been living with this in many forms, but the recent explosion of attention on applications such as Chat GPT has made it much more prevalent. My understanding is the applications comb millions of websites for content . They use this learning to enable them to complete tasks , as outlined by the user. The response time is very fast and the applications have the ability to create responses in a format suitable for different purposes. In food and beverage there will be many opportunities to use this technology. Marketing & Communications We expect brands to communicate regularly with consumers over social media and other mediums. The AI applications can write copy for this communication and format it to fit the platform you are using. For example , they can write it for Facebook or Linked In . They can also create the content for direct communication to your community of consumers. AI can even write your holiday message to your online community if you choose to send one. Providing ideas and recipes for consumers to use food and beverage products is an important component of most marketing strategies. AI can be a source for recipes and other ideas to use your products. Sharing this type of information with your target market positions the supplier as a valuable resource and should drive trial and use. Almost every food and beverage business has a website and so many of those brand owners will tell you the website needs work or a refresh. AI does have the ability to generate some of the content for websites. Providing information to a target market that compliments a product does increase the value of a website. Research & Development AI is becoming an option to the traditional Google search , and f ood businesses can do research with AI to understand the potential for specific market segments. The difference between AI and Google is that AI will do the work for you, as opposed to going through multiple websites to get the information you need. The other difference is that with free versions of applications such as Chat GPT, you are not aware of the sources they are using to compile the information. We should all be weary of trusting any information gleaned from the Internet. After exploring the capabilities of AI, it is apparent this can be a valuable tool , but it does not replace the human element required for brands to stand out and create space in the market. The best analogy is to view AI as a piece of equipment on a processing line. Each piece of equipment you add can improve efficiencies , because they can do it faster or more accurately than humans. AI will allow you to create content faster but you still need to make it your own if you want to stand out and ensure it really does reflect your brand positioning. It can be a good starting point, but a person who can add critical thinking and understand the brand will ensure it is unique. This article was written by a human being. Peter Chapman operates SKUFood in Halifax, N.S. SKUFood works with producers and processors to help them get their products on the shelf and in the shopping cart. Contact him at peter@skufood.com