News

A lowly mushroom is taking on the long-established synthetic food preservatives industry thanks to the work of Dr. Tanzina Huq, who won the Mitacs Outstanding Entrepreneur Award this past May. The Fredericton-based startup Chinova Bioworks, which she co-founded in 2016, produces an all-natural preservative based on mushroom fibre. Chinova  Bioworks is the first to introduce natural mushroom chitosan fibre as …

By processing agricultural leftovers into high-quality, sustainable ingredients, Comet Bio is set to transform the food industry. The Ontario-based company won this year’s award for “Best Ingredient Innovation” for its Arabinoxylan prebiotic dietary fibre extract and Sweeterra syrup, which is a healthier alternative to corn syrup. According to an independent Lifecycle Carbon Emissions Assessment (LCEA), Comet’s ingredients reduce greenhouse gases …

This spring, Toronto hosted its first Collision Conference, North America’s “fastest growing tech conference,” attracting more than 25,000 international attendees, almost half of which were women. During PITCH, an on-stage competition between 60 startups (narrowed down from hundreds of applicants), a cleantech product of special interest to the food industry was selected as the winner: Loliware – a company formed …

By Ethan Kwan “The portal is simple to use and it leverages the power of group purchasing from a network of suppliers,” said Alvin Rebick, FoodReach spokesperson. “With a great partner in North York Harvest that manages the logistics, community agencies can get timely delivery of quality and affordable food.” FoodReach was founded by Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre (PARC), Toronto …

Jumping on board the organics train, Red Bull Canada just added a new line of carbonated drinks to complement its well-known caffeine-infused brand. This April, the energy drink giant introduced its new Organics by Red Bull, a product line that includes Simply Cola, Bitter Lemon, Ginger Ale and Tonic water, to the Canadian market. Using natural flavours from plant extracts, …

Richardson to Build World-Class Innovation Centre in Downtown Winnipeg Richardson International is investing more than $30 million to develop an innovation centre in the heart of downtown Winnipeg, featuring state-of-the-art technology and equipment for research and product development. “Our goal is that the Richardson Innovation Centre will become a centre for collaboration,” says Chuck Cohen, Richardson’s Senior Vice-President, Technology. “As …

  University of Guelph Students to Develop Innovative Food Concepts with Industry Mentors As part of an annual project, students from the University of Guelph presented their original food product concepts to a panel of industry mentors in October. Students from the Food Science, Marketing, Nutrition and Engineering programs will work in teams to turn their ideas into prototypes, culminating …

By: Cayley Humphreys CCFI Public Trust Summit From the farm and ranch right through to Canada’s largest food service companies, interest in public trust in the food system continues to grow. In efforts to satisfy consumers concerns, a unique mix of thought leaders of all ages across supply chains, governments, industries and academia will come together in Calgary later this …

Mintel has released the finding of its annual poll of Canadian spending habits, and financial concerns and values