News

Surplus Food Rescue Program launched to support local initiatives

COVID-19 caused significant disruptions to areas of Canada’s food system, as it forced the near closure of the restaurant and hospitality industry in Canada and the United States. Some producers across Canada are left with surpluses of quality food, while increased demand from grocery stores alone is not expected to clear the inventory before it spoils. At the same time, …

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Plant protein production gets a big boost

In June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced almost $100 million of funding towards the new Winnipeg facility for Merit Functional Foods, a company that was established last year in a joint venture by Burcon NutraScience and three veteran food industry executives. The new company’s high-tech, 94,000-sq.ft. facility is expected to be functional by the end of 2020, becoming the first …

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How to Enter the Nutraceuticals Market

The nutraceuticals market provides nutritional-type products that have healing effects, therapeutic effects (“ceutical effects”) or that support health in ways beyond the effects attributed to nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, water and foods. Nutraceuticals can be topical or oral, and are used both to treat and to prevent various conditions of unwellness. People love nutraceuticals because:  They are natural; They are …

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Crickets: The gateway bug

The answer to feeding the world may be hopping around your backyard Growing enough food to feed the planet’s rapidly expanding population has experts worried. Simply put, with more people on the planet, more agriculture is needed to grow enough food – and that, in turn, plays havoc with the environment. But for some, there’s a solution right in their own …

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Why there has never been a better time to embrace the tiny but mighty oat

By Natasha Questel, VP of Marketing at Earth’s Own This year saw some big changes to the way Canadians think about food. Canada’s 2019 Food Guide sidelined milk and dairy to focus more on eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and protein, and Canadians stood up and said that they wanted to eat more plants. While this may be …

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Case Study: Sol Cuisine

Background: Sol Cuisine was established in 1996 by Dror Balshine, and pioneered plant-based protein foods in Canada by tapping into a unique and mostly untouched market at that time. Ingredients are sourced locally wherever possible, and all products are 100 per cent plant-based, Non-GMO Project Verified, kosher and halal, produced at its 35,000-sq.ft. manufacturing facility in Ontario, which has SQF …

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Three trailblazers share $150,000 innovation award

Simon Fraser University (SFU), BarrelWise Technologies and Technology Brewing Corporation have each received $50,000 from B.C.’s Agritech Innovation Challenge for leading-edge projects that will help battle the varroa mite in bees, improve winemaking processes and develop robots for mushroom harvesting. Researchers at SFU are exploring how a non-toxic chemical compound can target the varroa mite, a pest that can cause …

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New network of plant-based food locations

Growing consumer demand for plant-based foods is fuelling a partnership between Compass Group Canada, a leading food service provider, and Copper Branch, the world’s largest vegan restaurant chain. The partnership allows for the opening of up to 50 locations over 10 years to improve the availability of vegan options in hospitals and on campuses across Canada, with five planned openings …

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Putting trust on the balance sheet

Egg Farmers of Canada and McDonald’s are putting consumer trust on the balance sheet. In July, the restaurant chain joined forces with Egg Farmers of Canada to have its egg menu items stamped with the farmers’ seal of approval. Until September, McDonald’s ads include the Egg Quality Assurance (EQA) certification mark for its McMuffin sandwiches.  “The EQA program is the …

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