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Functional ingredients are an often invisible addition to food products, but when their addition enhances the product in some way, either with added health benefits or better taste, they can be the key to a food manufacturer’s success.

By: Julianne Suleski The end of 2016 saw a merger between an unlikely pair – the world’s second-largest food and beverage company, PepsiCo, and a small fermented drinks maker, KeVita. This could only mean one thing: fermented beverages have reached an unexpected level of success and are likely here to stay. The trend of kombucha, kefir, kimchi and other fermented …

Snacking is an established eating pattern among Canadian adults, with 89% reporting having snacked at least once during a given week

Sales of breakfast cereal in Canada are flat while Canadians look elsewhere to feed their breakfast hunger

By Kathy Perrotta In 2016, snacking no longer solely refers to an in-the-moment, treat-oriented indulgence but rather is more accurately defined as a behaviour. By today’s definition, anything and everything can be a snack – and increasingly is. Findings from the recently released Ipsos’ Canadian Snacking Nation 2016 report finds that many Canadians are increasingly shifting eating habits from long-held …

Millennials (born between 1980 and 1995) are the second-largest demographic cohort in Canada(representing almost a quarter of the Canadian population), but are quickly eclipsing Baby Boomers in importance given their projected growth in terms of future spending power and rising sphere of influence. Canadian Millennials are not a homogenous cohort, especially given the various life stages they represent, from young …

Recently, the Millennial cohort (23% of the Canadian population, ages 18-34 years) has faced exhaustive observation and daunting scrutiny that typifies large up-and-coming generations. Given the current and future spending power of this generation, this is not surprising. In 2014, Statistics Canada reported that Millennials accounted for $255 billion in annual spending. However, as the Millennial generation matures and fragments, …

Food preferences differ because of many different reasons – demographics, seasons, upbringing. Even the region we live in shapes what we eat on a daily basis. While many people prefer lighter foods or fruit over the summer, winter is the time for savoury foods and spices. Social listening allows product managers, developers and marketers in the food industry to keep …

With 2016 being the International Year of the Pulse, it’s meat versus pulses. Or is it? They are a superfood, Canada is their second-largest producer and their largest exporter in the world, they are marketed as a healthy meat alternative, and, in 2016, pulse crops will gain international exposure through the UN’s International Year of the Pulse campaign. With global …

Fermentation is an art and a science, says Andrew MacIntosh, Assistant Professor of Process Engineering and Applied Science at Dalhousie University. MacIntosh helped form Dalhousie’s new fermented products institute at the Canadian Institute of Fish and Fermentation Technology (CIFT). In a process almost as old as human history itself, malted barley is ground up into small chunks, mixed with water …