The Comitrol ® series delivers continuous single-pass operation. High capacity, precision particle size reduction. Incrementally shears product without significant temperature rise. Now available with equipped HMI to offer even more processor benefits. Thousands of proven reduction applications worldwide.
Mushroom
Chickpea
Cauliflower
Pea Protein
Beet
Seaweed
JUNE/JULY 2023 • VOL. 83, ISSUE 3
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Unveiling the 2023 Food in Canada Food Industry Report
Six months into 2023, and I’m already thinking about 2024. Yes, it’s planning season at Annex Business Media, the publisher of Food in Canada. We use the summer lull to determine industry trends and focus areas for 2024. It may seem early, but summer is the perfect time to do this, given that our annual Food Industry Report just got published. As always, the report offers invaluable insights into how the various food sectors performed this past year as well as forecasts what could happen in the coming months.
Overview
The single-most important news of this past year has been inflation and interest rate hikes. With its periodical rate hikes, Bank of Canada hoped to curb inflation, and food inflation seems to have come down to three per cent. However, borrowing costs are expected to be elevated until early 2024.
Baked goods
Rising input costs for grains, dairy and edible oils caused baked goods prices to rise faster than food inflation. Producer prices were up 16 per cent YoY.
Dairy
In 2022, the Canadian Dairy Commission hiked farmgate milk prices twice. These price hikes eliminated the premium Canadians typically pay for dairy alternatives. Egg consumption
rose two per cent in 2022. This is not a surprise, as eggs tend to outperform other animal proteins during recessions.
Seafood
Hurricane Fiona disrupted wild and aquaculture fisheries production on the East Coast. Further, a sharp drop in lobster and crab prices reduced the value of the 2022 harvest. Seafood prices fell by up to 60 per cent. Declining consumer demand left fishermen with record stock of unsold lobster and snow crab.
Meat and poultry
Besides the avian influenza, the meat and poultry sector faced inflation, labour shortages, wage increases, elevated interest rates, and strained shipping options, in addition to reduced grain movement due to the war in Ukraine. Additionally, producers had to deal with high feed costs due to a drought in Canada in 2021 and the U.S. in 2022.
Fruit and vegetable processing
In addition to inflation and staffing shortages, the fruit and vegetable processing and specialty food manufacturing sector had to reformulate some products due to a lack of key ingredients because of supply chain issues. The biggest sectoral news was from Nestle. It has decided to wind down its frozen meals and pizza business in Canada.
Nithya Caleb
Confectionery
Canada’s capacity for sugar and confectionery exports will increase this year and next as Barry Callebaut and Rogers Sugar’s capacity building plans bear fruit.
Beverages
Soft drink volume is expected to hold steady in 2023 while sports and energy drinks will grow at four per cent and five per cent respectively. Bottled water and value-added water consumption volume will both grow by two per cent.
Grain and oilseed milling
Euromonitor International forecasts a slight decline in Canadian retail sales of breakfast cereals, which topped $1.6 billion in 2022. After a 2.9 per cent CAGR from 2017 to 2022, we will see a one per cent annual decline in constant 2022 dollars to $1.5 billion by 2027.
Animal food
Pet owners are going to look for pet food product attributes that mirror qualities influencing their purchasing choices for human food. These attributes include environmentally friendly packaging, human-grade ingredients, and pet foods with functional ingredient components.
Nithya Caleb ncaleb@annexbusinessmedia.com
Entosystem opens North America’s largest insect plant
One year after securing more than $60 million in public and private investments for its new insect production facility, Quebec-based Entosystem opened its 100,000-sf site, which has now the largest insect production capacity in North America. The fully automated industrial system at Entosystem will reuse 90,000 tons of organic matter each year and produce 5,000 tons of protein-loaded larvae and 15,000 tons of approved fertilizer for organic farming through a zero-waste process.
News> file
MPO opens new meat innovation centre
Meat and Poultry Ontario (MPO) launches the new Centre for Meat Innovation and Technology in Guelph, Ont., to help Canadian processors collaborate, find, and adopt new technology and innovation and make it easier for their employees to learn and advance their skills. CMIT will also help processors access solutions that will improve their operations and efficiency.
Chapman’s turns 50
In 1973, David and Penny Chapman moved above an old creamery in Markdale, Ont., to start their new ice cream business. With only six employees and four old trucks they began making the first 15 flavours of ice cream. Now, Canada’s largest independent ice cream maker, is celebrating 50 years in business with over 180 products.
Ontario distillery to turn dairy byproduct into biofuel
Ontario-based Dairy Distillery has developed technology to transform milk permeate into vodka, named Vodkow. This use of milk permeate caught the attention of Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) whose Constantine, Mich., facility produces 14,000 tonnes a year of milk permeate, which is being used for animal feed. Looking to create more value for its dairy farmer members, MMPA partners with Dairy Distillery to build a plant to process its milk permeate into 2.2 million gal of ethanol. When blended with transportation fuel, the permeate ethanol will offset 14,500 tonnes of carbon a year. This offset will reduce the carbon footprint of the milk processed at Constantine by five per cent.
Lactalis appoints new marketing VP for foodservice
Lactalis Canada appoints Andrew Davis to the position of vice-president, marketing, of its Foodservice and Ingredients &
Export Division. Davis will be responsible for leading the marketing strategy and team to drive awareness, penetration, and brand equity for his division. Davis joins Lactalis Canada with over 20 years of CPG experience from Campbell’s and General Mills Canada General. He began his career in R&D and moved into the marketing function where he held progressively senior leadership roles.
Arterra Wines acquires two Ontario wineries
Arterra Wines Canada acquires Angels Gate Winery and Kew Vineyards Estate Winery in the Beamsville Bench, the westernmost part of the Niagara Peninsula wine-growing area in Ontario. Angels Gate has a total of 110 acres, with grape varieties including Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon. With over 80 acres, Kew Vineyards Estate Winery’s 1975 plantings are among the oldest in the region.
Sweets from the Earth buys Tutti Gourmet
Sweets from the Earth acquires the assets of Tutti Gourmet, a Quebec-based gluten-free biscotti manufacturer. The acquisition marks a significant expansion of Sweets from the Earth’s product offerings in the gluten-free and sugar-free markets.
Mike Kagan of Giraffe Foods joins Solina
Mike Kagan, the former general manager of Giraffe Foods (Symrise), joins Solina, as senior vice-president, global development, Sauces Division. Based in Toronto, Kagan will lead Solina’s global sauce strategy and actively support business development efforts by working closely with Solina’s regional teams.
SUGAR REDUCTION PROBLEM-SOLVER
Stricter Sugar Content Labels on the Horizon
In Canada, beginning January 1, 2026, a front-of-package nutrition symbol will be required for foods that are high in sugars, sodium and/or fat.1 In order to meet the new guidelines and appeal to consumers with less sugars on their label, brands will need to be proactive regarding reformulation and packaging updates. Fibersol® soluble prebiotic dietary fibre can help brands successfully navigate the shift, providing documented benefits in its ability to significantly reduce sugar within many applications.
Sugar Reduction: Trending with Consumers
Consumers already recognize the benefits of reduced sugar consumption:
74% of consumers look at the amount of sugar on the nutrition facts panel.3
34% of low/reduced sugar product launches feature fibre as a standout ingredient.4
Fibersol® and Sugar Reduction
A great tool to aid in reduced sugar/sugar-free formulations, Fibersol® itself is low in sugar. Because it is 98% sugar free and contains very few simple sugars, Fibersol® can:
• Help support label claims of low-/reduced-sugar; no sugar added; sugar-free; and no-/reduced-calories
• Fibersol® can be used up to 15 grams (dry basis) in any application and still add approximately 0.30 grams of sugars (typical value) to any given formulation**
**15g Fibersol®-2 = 0.3g sugar, less than the FDA’s 0.5g sugar content threshold for nutrition totals. Per the FDA: if a serving contains less than 0.5 grams of sugar, the content may be expressed as zero.
Fibersol®’s Bonus Benefits
What’s more, Fibersol® supports in-demand reduced-sugar products with the added nutritional advantage of dietary fibre—and corresponding ‘excellent source’ and ‘good source’ claims. It also offers the added bonus of being a well-tolerated5 prebiotic fibre6 which provides direct prebiotic benefits such as:
• Helping promote beneficial microbes in the gut microbiome
• Support of the microbiome, which is associated with overall health, mood and mental focus
About Fibersol®
Fibersol ® resistant maltodextrin is a Health Canada-approved dietary fibre source7 and is also determined by USFDA to have physiological effects that are beneficial to human health.8 It is derived from U.S.-grown corn, provides consistent quality and can be labeled as:
• Soluble corn fibre
• Corn maltodextrin fibre
• Maltodextrin (soluble corn fibre)
• Maltodextrin (corn fibre)
• Resistant corn maltodextrin
Higher Quality = Better Value
At 90% fibre content, Fibersol® contains a higher level of fibre than comparable products, which typically contain 70-85%. More fibre means more value, especially since highly concentrated Fibersol® maintains its fibre content under harsh processing including heat, acid and freeze/thaw conditions, while competitors’ products break down under similar circumstances. Also, Fibersol® can help deliver the desired benefits of fibre with less digestive intolerance or gastric discomfort than other types of dietary fibre.
Contributing to Consumers’ Wellness Efforts
Fibersol® brings positive nutrition to products, helping support consumers’ wellness efforts, in terms of:
• Prebiotic benefits
• Digestive health
• Reduced sugar
• Satiety
• Proactive health
A clinical study6 has shown that in products containing 3.75g of Fibersol® per serving,* Fibersol® may help nourish the intestinal flora and promote their growth to help maintain a healthy intestinal tract environment.**
*For a total of 15g per day over 3 weeks. **These statements are based on U.S. law. Customers are responsible for assuring that claims and labeling information on their finished products meet all applicable standards, laws and regulations where their products are sold.
Supporting Sustainability
Fibersol® can also help support your brand’s sustainability efforts, as a joint venture between Archer Daniels Midland Company, Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. and Matsutani America, Inc. ADM has been supporting sustainable and regenerative agriculture programs since 2012, paving the way with good business practices, progressive solutions and mindful actions that make a positive impact toward a brighter future for us all.
Comet opens new dietary fibre production facility
Comet, the London, Ont.-based manufacturer of Arrabina prebiotic dietary fibre, recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate its new production facility in Kalundborg, Denmark. The facility uses the company’s patented upcycling process to produce arabinoxylan, a dietary fibre. It will supply over 4 million kg annually of Comet’s Arrabina line of proprietary arabinoxylan dietary fibre for food, beverage, and supplement customers.
Canada secures Guatemala market for Canadian meat
Canada regains market access to Guatemala for Canada’s pork, beef, and poultry products. Guatemala had closed access to its market for Canadian meat products in December 2013 due to new requirements to inspect facilities in Canada for approval of exports. As part of this market access, Canadian exports of beef, pork and poultry meat products produced on or after April 17, 2023, are now eligible to be exported to Guatemala.
Rogers Sugar signs new agreement with Alberta Sugar Beet Growers
Rogers Sugar signs a two-year agreement with the Alberta Sugar Beet Growers for the supply of sugar beets to its Taber, Alta., sugar refining plant. The new supply contract covers the 2023 and 2024 crops. Established over 70 years ago, the Taber operation is supported by 200 Southern Alberta farm families.
Coca-Cola enters fresh produce market with Frutura Frutura signs licensing agreement with the Coca-Cola Company. This is the first time the Coca-Cola Company has licensed one of their brands for use within
the fresh produce category. The deal allows Frutura to use Minute Maid and Simply brands, which will be exclusively deployed by Frutura’s Dayka and Hackett (D&H). The Simply brand is entering the produce category as Simply Select.
Wonderbrands Innovation Business Park to rise in Ontario
The City of Pickering and Province of Ontario recently completed the sale of 151 acres of provincial lands in Pickering’s Innovation Corridor to FGF Brands for the development of a high-tech, food manufacturing campus, which will be known as the Wonderbrands Innovation Business Park.
Additionally, the city council approved FGF Brands’ (Caplink) draft plan of subdivision application and zoning bylaw amendment application to permit the food manufacturing campus. The first phase of development will consist of three manufacturing plants and a distribution centre, with an overall gross floor area of over 1 million sf. Once complete, the business park will be the largest food manufacturing campus in the Greater Toronto Area, as well as one of the largest employers in Pickering.
FGF Brands is one of the largest producers of fresh breads, rolls, croissants, fully baked muffins, and sweet goods in North America. Some of its brands are Wonder Bread, D’italiano, Country Harvest, Stonefire, ACE, and Casa Mendosa.
Mucci Farms hires industry expert Phil Johnson
Mucci Farms appoints Phil Johnson to the executive leadership team in the role of technical director of growing operations. Johnson will assist Mucci Farms with growing efficiencies along with an emphasis on sustainability through maximizing quality production.
Louis Dreyfus expands Sask. canola processing facility
Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), a global
merchant and processor of agricultural goods, expands its canola processing complex in Yorkton, Sask. LDC has been operating its canola processing complex in Yorkton from 2009. Construction of the additional canola crushing line is expected to begin later this year and will more than double the facility’s annual crush capacity to over 2 million metric tons upon completion.
CFIN grants over $500k to six foodtech projects
The Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) is investing $516,959 into six foodtech projects through the organization’s Innovation Booster Program. Industry will match these funds to create projects valued at just under $1 million. The Innovation Booster funding recipients are Impactful Health R&D (Nova Scotia), CarbonGraph (Ontario), Cibotica (British Columbia), Freshline (British Columbia), New School Foods (Ontario), and ABCO Industries (Nova Scotia). CFIN’s Innovation Booster provides funding and support to SMEs to help them accelerate product development, overcome innovation hurdles, and validate market fit.
Campbell Soup sells Emerald Nuts to Flagstone Foods
Flagstone Foods, one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of private label snack nuts and trail mixes in North America, acquires Emerald Nuts from Campbell Soup Company. Over its almost 20-year history, Emerald has built a reputation for quality and innovation, known for items such as grab-and-go 100 calorie packs and assorted glazed nut products.
The Cibotica team.
Mecatherm launches new oven for delicate food production
Mecatherm presents its new M-DAN Oven, an evolution of the FDAN Oven. The M-DAN Oven is dedicated to the production of delicate pastry products, dairy desserts, vegetables, plant-based protein products, and other savoury dishes such as meat and cheese-based pastries.
Made of all stainless-steel materials, M-DAN’s interior design and waterproof body allow for the drainage of wastewater. Operators have complete access to all areas of dirt buildup without having to disassemble elements. The oven is also equipped with automatic rotating brushes for cleaning belts and low drawers for recovery of solid residues after baking.
With three combinations of heat transfer modes, the M-DAN Oven offers the flexibility required to meet the demand for a variety of products.
The oven’s modular construction offers compact and independent heating zones so that the user can make adjustments to heat flows (by convection and/or radiation), heating intensity, and airspeed. The M-DAN Oven offers a baking surface of up to 230m2 www.mecatherm.fr
Key Technology introduces integrated hyperspectral sorting system for bacon bits
Key Technology, a member of the Duravant family of operating companies, introduces their new integrated hyperspectral sorting system for chilled bacon bits.
The Veryx BioPrint sorter can combine near infrared hyperspectral detection with colour cameras. The sorter analyzes a rich set of data about the materials it is sorting to remove the smallest bone fragments and other difficultto-detect foreign material (FM) as well as product defects.
To identify and remove light and dark bone, interleaving paper, L board, grease-soaked cardboard, plastics in various colours and more, Veryx BioPrint sorters detect every object’s colour, size, shape and structure as well as the chemometric and biologic properties. Key’s Pixel Fusion detection
technology combines pixel-level data from the hyperspectral sensors and colour cameras to produce a unique ‘signature’ associated with each material substance that passes through the sorter. This enables Veryx BioPrint to remove hard-to-detect FM and defects.
Key customizes each integrated bacon bit sorting line to meet customer’s production objectives. Iso-Flo and Impulse vibratory conveyors can be configured to transfer, scalp, size grade, distribute, feed scales and other processing line equipment. www.key.net
MG Tech unveils new cobot palletizer
MG Tech Group introduces a new high, heavyduty cobot palletizer equipped with HC30 Yaskawa cobot and a Rockwell Automation system. The MG Tech cobot palletizer can palletize on different pallet sizes (1000x1200 mm / 800x1200 mm / 40 x48 in.), to handle cases up to 30 kg. MG Tech also offers the possibility to add a lifting column in the cobot enabling a higher palletizing height up to 2.5 m. It has a wide range of grippers. MG Tech cobot palletizer can be equipped with a Rockwell, Schneider or Siemens automation system. To complete its palletizing offer, MG Tech has just developed in-house a new palletizing software allowing to create
NEW PRODUCTS
palletization diagrams. This new software is compatible with all robotic and cobotic palletizers available on the market. It can be driven with a tablet or directly on the machine’s human-machine interface.
www.mgtech-group.com
Relco rolls out new spray dryer
Relco, a Koch Separation Solutions company, launches the Parvus pilot spray dryer for use in a range of food applications. The system is available as the Parvus Nomad, a single-stage dryer designed for trial batches and smaller production volumes up to 10 kg (22 lb) of water evaporation, or the Parvus multi-stage dryer, which incorporates a wide body design and handles larger production volumes of up to 25 kg (55 lb) of water evaporation.
The pilot spray dryer is intended to offer full flexibility to customers seeking initial testing capabilities and future scalability, with the potential to integrate with other pilot technology to create data for full-scale planning. The systems are designed with components pre-attached to the skid. Each system also fits within one or two shipping containers, including add-on options such as a fluid bed, baghouse, and product preheaters.
www.relco.net
HNew Listeria policy is more user-friendly for manufacturers, retains rigour
Dr. Amy Proulx
ealth Canada has updated its “Policy on Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-to-Eat Foods.” The new policy replaces the 2011 version and will come into effect on October 1, 2023. The updated policy, while still technically rigorous, is more user friendly with increased decision-making tools and visual aids to help interpret the complexity.
Clear pathways for manufacturers
Determining the risk category of a food is one of the top issues in the Listeria policy. Some food products allow Listeria growth during their shelf life, known as Category 1 product. Others have factors such as pH, water activity, thermal processes, freezing processes, inclusion of antimicrobial ingredients or processing aids, or novel processes, which make Listeria far less likely to be within the product and able to grow. These are known as Category 2 products. The 2023 policy includes comprehensive decision-making tools for manufacturers to understand where their product falls in the risk categories of 1, 2A and 2B. Once you know the risk, you can determine the level of attention and frequency required on environmental and product monitoring.
Effective preventive control
The 2023 policy establishes good manufacturing practices as essential for effective Listeria control. Management commitment, and effective implementation of the overarching HACCP or preventive control program, create the environment that allows good safety systems to work. While the policy does not name it, commitment to food safety culture is essential for effective Listeria control, as workers must
feel implicated and have organizational support for applying preventive controls and participating in monitoring programs.
Environmental monitoring
Listeria is notorious because it can thrive in biofilms in refrigerated environments. Environmental monitoring is the swabbing of surfaces for presence of Listeria or other organisms. It’s typically done during manufacturing, usually three hours after start of operations, as this is when Listeria would rub off into product from biofilms in machines. It is also done immediately after pre-operation sanitation to monitor effectiveness of sanitation protocols. When determining priority swabbing locations, individuals designing testing protocols need to take time inspecting equipment and processes to look for places where food accumulates inconspicuously and cracks or crevices that are hard to clean. Direct food contact surfaces are top priority, including machines, belts, and conveyors. Secondary priority is for non-contact points where Listeria thrives and quickly cross contaminates, such as hoses, drains, and mops. Sampling guidance has been created for high- and low-risk products and non-food contact surfaces.
Product testing
The 2023 policy has clear tables for quantity of samples required for product testing. The high-risk action criteria is any detection of Listeria monocytogenes in a single or composite 5 x 25 g sample. Low-risk action criteria is enumeration at greater than 100 cfu/g in a 5 x 10 g sample evaluated separately. High-risk products are more likely to be sampled frequently, thus the allowance for compositing to
mitigate costs. However, compositing may not allow for precise detection and, if flagged for positive results, would require repeated testing.
Frequency and methods of testing
In the 2023 policy, testing frequency is determined by a systematic evaluation of the risk, including efficacy of the preventive control program, risk category of the product, historical in-plant data, and size of the manufacturing lot. Consulting a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspector is essential in determining appropriate frequency. Analytical methods should be approved and listed in Health Canada’s Compendium of Analytical Methods.
Importance of process validation
Food manufacturers are required to validate their ingredient or process, using outcomes-based frameworks showing evidence that interventions are effective.
Trend analysis
In microbiological testing, it’s typical to see variation in samples. Statistical process control (SPC) allows for the tracking of trends over time, to visualize common cause and special cause variations. The new Listeria policy recommends, but does not indicate how to do, SPC. Organizations such as ASQ provide free educational tools for SPC. Control Charts and Pareto analysis are useful for prioritizing attention and observing loss of control.
Dr. Amy Proulx is professor and academic program co-ordinator for the Culinary Innovation and Food Technology programs at Niagara College, Ont. She can be reached via email at aproulx@niagaracollege.ca.
TReflecting on 25 years of food law in Canada
Ron Doering
his spring marks the 26th anniversary of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the 20th anniversary of this Food Law column. So, this is a good time to reflect on how our food law regime has developed over the last quarter century.
In 1995, a critical Auditor General report and continuing criticism by provinces and industry about overlaps and confusion in food inspection led the federal government to review the delivery of food inspection and related activities. This resulted in the creation of the Office of Food Inspection Systems (OFIS) with a mandate to consult Canadians, particularly the provinces and industry and consumer groups, and analyze options for change. OFIS carried out an extensive consultation and submitted four options to the federal government in November 1995. The options ranged from a modest recommendation that the four responsible departments co-ordinate better to the most radical change of creating a new legislated agency with a president (deputy minister) reporting directly to a federal minister. This agency will be responsible for enforcement along the whole food chain, from seeds, feeds, fertilizer, animal health and plant protection to all food commodities. Cabinet selected the agency option, brought 16 programs (and multiple statutes) under one roof, with the agency president reporting directly to the agriculture minister. Legislation was expedited and CFIA opened its doors on April 1, 1997.
During the consultations leading to the creation of CFIA, OFIS promised the next step toward consolidation would be a single, modernized food act. After further consultation and analysis, Bill
C-81 was introduced in Parliament. The minister of the day chose not to proceed with the legislation as, in his opinion, proceeding would have given opposition parties opportunities to raise several controversial issues at the time, such as the regulation of organics, and the serious threat of the introduction of Mad Cow Disease into Canada.
Consolidating food law
It took many years before Canada had a partially consolidated food law regime with the Safe Food For Canadians Act. This act replaced the Meat Inspection Act, the Fish Inspection Act, the Canada Agricultural Products Act and the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act. The Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) consolidated 14 sets of regulations and came into force in 2019, creating a more modernized and comprehensive system of licensing, and preventive controls requirements to address potential risks to food safety. In the years since the promulgation of SFCR, a mountain of new directives, regulations, policies, and guidelines have been developed. As Katrina Coughlin, who practices agriculture and food law in the Ottawa offices of Gowling WLG, recently commented, “If you’re in the food industry, you’re always swimming in a sea of regulation.”
Looking back, Peter Brackenridge, an original OFIS member and later CFIA vice-president, notes from his interactions with other countries, “Canada is the envy of the world to have such a consolidated and modernized system; having the same agency responsible for animal health, plant health, feed regulation and food safety is still very rare. It has proven to be
invaluable in dealing with critical issues, including zoonotic diseases such as BSE.”
He notes that our Office of Food Safety and Recall has been recognized internationally as a model.
Recurring themes
Looking back over the last 20 years of this Food Law column, a number of interesting insights emerge. For example, considering the scope and depth of Canada’s food law, it is remarkable how little jurisprudence there is, a fact discussed in the 2017 article, “Sue the CFIA? Good Luck”. Food recalls, trade issues, consumer fraud, and organic food regulation were repeating topics. The relationship between science and politics (a profound confusion that still exists, as we all saw in the recent COVID-19 pandemic) was a recurrent topic, which we discussed in the 2008 column, “Politicizing science: Scientizing politics,” and the 2016 article, “Separate Science and Politics? Think Again”.
Several articles also promoted the concept of one health, which recognizes that the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals and our shared environment. The recent appointment of Dr. Harpreet Kochar as president of CFIA bodes well for the promotion of one health, as Dr. Kochar has been Canada’s chief veterinary officer and an associate deputy minister of health. We’ve come a long way in 25 years. Our food law regime is not perfect, but I would argue it is second to none.
Ronald L. Doering, BA, LL.B. MA, LL.D., is past president, CFIA. He is counsel in the Ottawa offices of Gowling WLG, and adjunct professor, Food Science, Carleton University. Contact him at ronald.doering@gowlings.com.
TSix applications of automation, robotics, and AI in Canada
Nestor Gomez
he Canadian food and beverage sector is embracing the age of automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI) to transform the industry. From innovative products to improved supply chain processes, companies are leveraging these technologies to achieve greater efficiency, cost reduction, increased profit margins, and better environmental stewardship.
Supply chain optimization
Toronto-based McCain Foods has enriched its demand planning and production forecast through an investment in Fiddlehead Technology (Moncton, N.B.), a company specializing in data science and machine learning solutions for the F&B industry. This has allowed McCain to better manage inventory, reduce its waste, costs, and carbon footprint.
TheoryMesh, Winnipeg, is growing its software as a service (SaaS) platform that captures data from across food supply chains and uses blockchain and machine learning for certification and traceability.
Improved product quality
Robotics and AI are being used by food companies to ensure product quality and safety. A notable example is A&L Canada Laboratories in London, Ont. It uses AI-driven image analysis to detect contaminants and defects in food products. Additionally, F&B businesses are using robotics to automate the cleaning of food processing equipment. Thus reducing the risk of contamination.
Labour savings
By automating repetitive and physically demanding tasks, companies can save labour costs and improve working
conditions for their employees. Robotics is becoming prevalent throughout all stages of food production, including for sorting, packaging, and material handling. Robots help reduce workplace injuries, increase efficiency, scale up production, and allow employees to perform less physically demanding and risky tasks.
With Canadian Food Innovation Network’s (CFIN’s) support, Cyberworks Robotics, Markham, Ont., is developing autonomous self-driving tow tugs for food distribution and production centres.
Reducing waste
Industrial solutions based on automation and AI are used to reduce waste, water use and the reliance on plastics. Automated systems for packaging and processing, for instance, can improve efficiency.
Ottawa’s Food Cycle Science Corp. is developing technology that combines the use of enzymes with automation. The company uses sensors and automation in its FoodCycler technology to degrade biodegradable plastics and transform them, along with food waste, into a beneficial soil amendment that reduces reliance on artificial fertilizers and contributes to a circular food economy.
AI-driven technologies are revolutionizing all aspects of the industry, from new product development to supply chain management and sustainability efforts. Expect to see more companies investing in automation and AI to maintain their competitive edge.
Nestor Gomez is chief technology officer for the Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN), a national, free, member-based organization stimulating innovation across the Canadian food sector. Contact him at nestor@cfin-rcia.ca.
COST SAVINGS
By using AI and machine learning, food businesses can improve overall profitability through:
• DEMAND FORECASTING – analyzing data such as historical trends, identifying seasonality and weather patterns to predict demand;
• DYNAMIC PRICING – monitoring real-time market conditions, competitor pricing, and customer behaviour to adjust prices dynamically;
• PERSONALIZED PRICING – analyzing customer behaviour, preferences, and purchasing history to create personalized offers;
• PRICE ELASTICITY MODELLING – estimating price elasticity, which measures the sensitivity of demand to changes in price;
• INVENTORY MANAGEMENT – helping to optimize inventory levels by analyzing sales data, identifying patterns, and predicting future stock needs;
• PROMOTION OPTIMIZATION – analyzing past promotional campaigns, customer responses, and competitor strategies to help businesses design effective promotions;
• COMPETITOR ANALYSIS – monitoring competitor prices, promotional activities, and product offerings in real-time so food businesses can make informed decisions on pricing and marketing strategies; and
• COST OPTIMIZATION – identifying inefficiencies in the supply chain, production processes, and distribution networks, leading to cost savings.
o food business leader wants to wake up to the nightmare of a product recall. The toll of lost sales, business disruption, legal costs, administrative expenses, penalties, and damaged reputation can be astronomical. Another stressful situation is when a business is not prepared for audits. Food brands with a strong food safety culture are in a better position to prevent and overcome potentially expensive food safety and quality related disruptions, according to Paul Valder, a food safety and quality veteran and CEO of Culture Assurance Consulting (CAC). He leads a team of specialists who support food processors by performing risk assessments, developing food safety certification systems, and providing proprietary software.
Food safety culture
It is a mindset that starts at the top of an organization, with senior leadership driving it to permeate every department. Food safety and quality becomes a company-wide commitment, no longer relegated exclusively to QA or food safety teams. Every employee understands their role and is committed to ensuring food safety and quality, regardless of their title. The phrase, “if you see something, say something,” comes to mind. The result is a proactive approach to mitigate food safety and quality risks.
Benefits
Although food safety culture may not prevent issues from arising, it can reduce the scale and enable businesses to resolve issues more quickly, which yields numerous benefits, such as:
• reduced product recalls, quality issues and consumer complaints;
• reduced severity of issues when potential problems are flagged by employees before they escalate;
• minimized financial impact from lost sales, investigations, disposal costs, packaging re-works, legal fees, customer fees and penalties and repairing reputational damage;
• reduced food and packaging waste;
• higher audit success rates with fewer non-conformances;
• maintains positive company and brand reputations and minimizes damage;
• retains customers through improved service levels;
• higher employee retention because they are engaged and have a sense of company pride;
• builds and protects customer and consumer loyalty and trust in your brand; and
• differentiates your brand. With consumers increasingly concerned about the ingredients and safety of their food, there is an opportunity to publicize the steps your company takes to ensure your products are safe.
Key ingredients
Management must provide constant reinforcement and the required resources to facilitate an enduring food safety culture. Incorporating it in the recruiting process, measuring performance, incentivizing employees, and providing ongoing training is essential. Integrating food safety culture with strong company and brand values, and diligently adhering to those values, will strengthen your organization. Other
critical components include a food safety and quality management system, supported by a robust software solution. Valder recommends implementation of a flexible, modular software system that enables customization of food safety and quality programs to suit business processes, and is capable of integrating with existing ERP systems to streamline, digitize and automate real-time reporting processes.
Counter resistance
Change inevitably sparks pushback. Cultivating a food safety culture is no different. Excuses run the gamut from “don’t have the time and it’s QA’s job” to “it’s disruptive and too expensive”.
Management may not comprehend the risks of inaction. Valder recommends developing a risk mitigation strategy to expose risk events, measure the impact on the business and prioritize required corrective actions.
Overcome financial hurdles
In today’s climate, food processors are stretched for time, resources, and finances more than ever before.
To bridge the funding gap, Valder suggests taking advantage of government funding programs.
In short, investing in building a food safety culture is a no-brainer to protect your business, your brand, and your bottom line.
As a CPG food consultant, Birgit Blain helps clients think strategically to build a sustainable brand. Her experience includes 17 years with Loblaw Brands and President’s Choice. Contact her at birgit@bbandassoc. com or learn more at www.bbandassoc.com
Baking FOR A HEALTHY GUT
Fibres, pre- and pro-biotics, and some processing techniques are making baked goods gut friendly
— BY JANE DUMMER —
Consumers’ desire for healthier eating is evolving. Gut health is on-trend, specifically since the pandemic revealed the importance of proactive nutrition. Research shows a healthy gut goes beyond the digestive tract to influence overall immune health, mental health, and skin health. The growing consumer trend for healthier food products and increased awareness of gut health is leading companies to innovate to meet this demand, especially in the baking industry. Bread, baked goods, and bakery mixes are all excellent applications to include more gut-friendly ingredients. There are several ingredients available to make bakery products more gut-friendly including fibres, prebiotics, and probiotics, plus processing techniques like sprouting and fermenting.
FIBRES
Soluble and insoluble dietary fibres are an important gut health nutrient. Fibre is vital for gut transit time, as well as maintaining a healthy gut microbiome. The challenge of adding high amounts of fibre can have a negative impact on the product’s structure and sensory properties. A technique to combat this challenge is through sprouting. Dianne Wolters, vice-president, product development, Everspring Farms, explains, “Baked goods made with sprouted grains and flours benefit from all the wholesome nutrition of whole grains as well as improved nutrient bioavailability and soluble fibre content due to the germination process. Sprouted grains are particularly beneficial for gut health because the sprouting process produces enzymes which unlock nutrient
inhibitors, present in all whole grains, converting them into a more digestible form. In addition, sprouting has been shown to convert a proportion of the insoluble fibre in whole grains to soluble fibre which feed gut friendly bacteria in our digestive systems. But perhaps the most important consideration is making sure consumers enjoy the taste of gut friendly foods. The sweeter taste and more tender crumb in bakery items made with sprouted flours make them ideally suited to a wide variety of product applications from sweet goods to breads.”
PREBIOTICS
Continuing with the fibre category, prebiotics have gained traction as ingredients in the baking sector over the past decade. Prebiotic compounds provide nutrients for healthy gut bacteria to maintain a beneficial, diverse microbiome. Kara Landau, RD, a dietitian at Gut Feeling Consultancy and media representative for Global Prebiotic Association, describes, “With rising consumer awareness of the benefits of gut health, and the continued association that people make between prebiotics and fibre, baked goods that are already promoting their higher fibre content. Savoury options like breads or wraps make an ideal category to enhance
Sprouted whole grain baked goods offer consumers a healthy dose of fibre.
The increasing consumer awareness about gut health is a wonderful opportunity to incorporate a wider variety of whole grains into baked goods.
— Dianne Wolters, VP, Everspring Farms
gut healthy prebiotic benefits. There are select prebiotics that are also classified as fibres. These prebiotics are stable throughout food processing environments. Examples include high maize and resistant dextrins. This gives the opportunity to strategically enhance a baked good and turn it into a functional food offering to consumers.”
The growing body of research in gut health is not only good news for the baking industry, but also for the farmers growing the crops that support it. It’s evident there are many new products in bakery that incorporate novel ingredients beneficial to the microbiome. Wolters agrees, “The increasing consumer awareness about gut health is a wonderful opportunity to incorporate a wider variety of whole grains and other exciting new ingredients into baked goods. This has ripple effects throughout the entire supply chain and incentivizes farmers to add a wider variety of grains and seeds to their crop rotations, many of which have excellent benefits for soil health and sustainability.”
PROBIOTICS
Up next are gut-friendly probiotics. The first and obvious food category for consumers to incorporate probiotics into their diet was dairy. The baking industry recognized a challenge because the probiotic strains needed had to survive the baking process. Landau says, “When it comes to gut health baking opportunities, it is imperative that companies and product developers work with experts who understand which prebiotics and probiotics will withstand various heating and processing conditions to retain their true functionality. This is necessary to ensure consumers can trust the integrity of the products being released. Selecting the best prebiotic and/or probiotic to incorporate into a baked good needs to be determined based on various aspects related to both the brand positioning and the manufacturing capabilities for the company.”
Fermented foods have long been associated with gut health. From sauerkraut to sourdough bread, the digestive health benefits from the lactic acid bacteria production (Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in particular) can assist in maintaining a healthy gut microbiome and support the immune system. In addition to
the health benefits, research from Puratos shows sourdough and the enzymes associated with sourdough fermentation can be used as solutions to improve the structural profile of high-fibre breads. Here too, health, taste and texture are important. Puratos is working on enzyme and sourdough-based innovations to bring more dietary fibres to bread to support digestive health.
Finally on the gut-friendly ingredient side, postbiotics are a new category of functional ingredients. Postbiotics are emerging as a category because of their gut health benefits, plus their functional attributes such as withstanding high heat processing conditions in baking. The category includes a variety of compounds like enzymes, peptides, and fatty acids. This is a promising area of research and product development for gut health, therefore, keep it on your radar.
People are interested in purchasing food that supports and improves gut health. This represents a huge opportunity for bakers. Wolters is incredibly positive about the current and future opportunities in this space and concludes, “The research that is developing about the importance of gut health to overall health and well-being is exciting. We’re only starting to scratch the surface in our understanding of the complexities that exist within our digestive systems. Therefore, people are making connections between how the health of their gut microbiome could be impacting their overall health in ways they never could have imagined. As a result, the products available in the baking category that incorporate ingredients beneficial to our microbiome are easily giving consumers the option to include gut-friendly, wholesome ingredients into their diets.”
Fermented foods like sourdough bread are known to promote gut health.
Charting candy flavour innovation
Follow these five steps for market success — BY LISA
Creating a delicious candy requires a formula that considers your end goal and the ingredients you have available to achieve results. But every new candy starts with an idea. These ideas can originate across your organization. Some may begin with marketing, R&D, or the leadership team, and occasionally, discovering the direction to take the flavour of your candy is random luck. Usually, though, a siloed or isolated approach to flavour innovation or guessing at your next launch doesn’t guarantee success. Just as you follow a formula to have a positive outcome at the bench, you can increase your chances of in-market acceptance by using a strategic process for finding innovative ideas.
The multi-step approach involves preparing to innovate, checking out the current market, plotting your path, formulating your candy, and developing a launch plan. The speed of your journey will vary depending on several factors such as:
• how frequently do you innovate;
• does your organization have a process to follow, or are you new to innovation;
• how many stakeholders must you consider, as multiple approvers can lengthen development time;
• what are your brand’s financial goals;
• do you need a quick win in the market with a seasonal flavour, or are you focused on growing your brand extensively?
You may run through these steps quickly for a limited-time offer, while a significant new launch could take more than one year.
Step 1: Set your brand guardrails
Before starting your innovation journey, take time to understand the opportunities and limits within your brand.
For an established brand, confirm you clearly understand current customer perceptions. Is your brand viewed as traditional, novel, or cutting-edge? Mapping your brand’s persona helps you begin setting boundaries for how far you can take the product’s flavour.
You can explore how far you can stretch your brand using consumer research. Are any flavours, formats, or functionalities out of bounds for your brand? Can your brand change its shape or format or offer a trending flavour? Sometimes people have a high tolerance for brand innovation. Snickers, the well-loved combination of chocolate, caramel, and nougat, made a successful leap into the ice cream category
as an extension that made sense to people. Sometimes, brands stretch too far. Cadbury, the premium U.K. chocolate brand, introduced Smash, a line of instant potatoes, and invested significant dollars to achieve reasonable success, but the effort lowered quality perceptions of the flagship product line.
Other questions to ask as you start the innovation process include, ‘What gaps can my brand fill?’ Gap analyses map trends against current offerings.
Sweet Chews, a recent innovation from Smart Sweets, recognized consumer desire for low-sugar options and interest in plantbased foods.
For start-ups, fully understanding your brand’s reason for being—your point of difference, and who you want to connect with your brand—are essential steps in the innovation process. Your answers will
JACKSON —
Adopt a multi-step approach to successfully launch new candies in the market.
% of Candy Launches by Flavour North America - 52 Weeks March 2023
Mango Passionfruit
Sour Mango Pineapple
Orange Pineapple
Sour Pineapple
Raspberry Watermelon
Ube
affect the flavour palette you can use. Defining success will also guide your efforts. If you’re selling principally online to a small audience with specific needs, reaching success will have different metrics than a national brand striving to gain one to two per cent market share.
With your brand guardrails defined, you can move to Step 2.
Step 2: Assess the candy landscape
In-market research will provide invaluable insights to guide your innovation journey. During your shopping trips, review what your competitors are doing with innovation in flavour and format.
Look along the candy aisle to see if you notice any patterns in new product development. Are new products featuring more melon or citrus profiles? Do you see global inspirations like yuzu or lychee?
Begin identifying the themes underlying the innovations. Are brands trying to deliver excitement, indulgence, or nostalgia through flavour?
Pay close attention to look and feel. Do you notice any new packaging formats that are getting more activity? Beyond the more readily available reduced sugar
claims, what types of functionalities are emerging? Do you see candy with caffeine, antioxidants, or vitamins added? As you evaluate the trends, consider which will align with your brand guardrails.
Be sure to try new candies! Does the flavour experience deliver on the promise of the brand and the packaging callouts? Sampling is often a great way to learn what not to do.
As you do your research, continue to think about ways your brand can stand out. If you learn about a new flavour combination generating news, can you ‘fast follow’ with a similar profile? Or, if the profile is getting buzz because it’s exciting, can you create a combination that’s equally or more exciting?
Crossover flavors are happening across the food and beverage landscape. Sugar confectionery offers a versatile platform for borrowing flavours from other categories. If you have time, visit your local bakery, a juice bar, or a trendy coffee shop to see if you can find flavour inspiration. Think about recent cocktails or mocktails you enjoyed, too.
If time and budget allow, talk to your brand buyers. If you’re just starting, speak with candy buyers. Listening to people talk about their experiences provides a first-person viewpoint that can drive your innovation process.
If shopping and qualitative research aren’t possible, resources are available to give you insights into new product activity. Companies like Mintel or Innova track new product launches across categories and countries. By evaluating product descriptions and viewing packaging, you’ll get a glimpse of flavour profiles and clues about the experience they’re trying to deliver. You can also aggregate launch data to check out flavour
You may want to experiment with novel flavours like lemon and grape.
Figure 1: Top candy flavours in North America
Before starting your innovation journey, take time to understand the opportunities and limits within your brand. Mapping your brand’s persona helps you set boundaries for how far you can take the product’s flavour.
trends. Figure 1 shows the top flavours launched in sugar confectionery across North America over the past 52 weeks. A few novel flavours introduced last year are ones to watch.
Step 3: Plot your innovation path
With established guardrails and preliminary opportunity areas in place, it’s time to formalize your path to new product development. You can begin by collaborating with your team or trusted ingredient suppliers to brainstorm flavour ideas. Then, prioritize your concepts to align with your company’s production, brand, and financial goals.
While your ideas reflect the market and consumer insights, plan to get feedback on your concepts. You can have additional conversations with small groups of candy consumers or invest in quantitative research with larger groups of people to gauge their interest in your ideas. Social listening platforms, like Tastewise IO, offer additional insights into whether your new flavours or formats will generate excitement and conversation.
Now, it’s time to draft your formulas, establish relationships with ingredient suppliers, and create benchtop samples to taste.
Step 4: Formulate benchtop samples
As you formulate, use your brand guardrails and budget to guide your base formula and label claims. Before creating your benchtop samples, key components to consider are your sweetener, flavour, and colour systems. Further, determine if you’ll use HFCS, non-nutritive sweeteners like erythritol, or cane sugar.
How important are natural flavours to your customers? Will your flavour systems deliver results with your manufacturing process? Does your budget or desired flavour profile require a natural-and-artificial (N&A) solution?
If you’re striving to create a reduced-sugar candy, do you need to explore flavour modulators that improve the taste experience? Are your brand buyers open to FD&C colours, or do you want natural options? Will natural colours deliver the visual impact people expect? If you have the budget and time, consider letting people taste your samples to optimize your formula.
Step 5: Map your launch plan
It’s time to get ready to launch your new candy idea. The commercialization process involves:
• ordering ingredients and packaging;
• confirming your label meets regulatory guidelines;
• setting production and ship dates;
• evaluating quality after product scale-up; and
• generating some buzz through marketing campaigns or social media outreach.
After your candy launches, remember to check in with retail partners or your customers to get feedback and see if you need to adjust the formula.
Launching your next candy flavour is easier with an innovation process framed with insights and expertise. Check out FlavorSum’s Innovation Journey Guide at https://discover.flavorsum. com/innovation-journey-0-0.
Lisa Jackson is director of marketing at FlavorSum 23_003271_Food_In_Canada_JUN_JUL_CN Mod: May 4, 2023 1:03 PM Print: 05/15/23 11:44:31 AM page 1 v7
INNOVATIONS IN DAIRY
Manufacturers are adopting eco-friendly practices while increasing the health quotient of dairy products — BY MARK JUHASZ —
Amid an increasing array of plant-based milks in today’s market, some consumers may feel conflicted about bovine milk. However, indulgent, rich flavour profiles in butters, creams, yogurts, and cheeses from cow’s milk remain a popular choice. Increasingly, dairy companies are responding to consumer trends by producing indulgent products and adding value with claims and commitments to grass-fed, pasture-raised, and organic production while working with simple formulations, and sustainable sourcing and production practices.
In New Zealand, Anchor brand offers an organic, carbon-zero certified butter with a golden colour, which is representative of the country’s pasture-rich diet for its dairy herds. Ireland’s Glanbia has developed Truly Grass Fed with hormone- and antibiotic-free certifications. Its herds are almost completely grass-fed.
Conscious of product quality and growing sustainability concerns, Cow milk cheese producers are implementing new grazing programs, which are certified by independent agencies, to ensure animal welfare, improved land use, nutrient management, soil health and a reduced carbon footprint, all as part of the surge of interest in regenerative agricultural practices. Some brands are using recyclable and eco-friendly packaging to round out the attractiveness of dairy products in addition to their traditional draw.
Better health profile
Cow’s milk has advantages in nutritional and processing properties, as well as protein content. From an inflationary perspective, as of June 2022, in a 52-week assessment period, according to Helikon Consulting, the average price of a litre of animal-derived milk was still lower than plant-based milks. Nevertheless, plantbased beverage companies continue to
expand product offerings. For example, Perfect Day is contributing its animal-free whey protein to a range of new food products. Whey protein in cow’s milk accounts for approximately 20 per cent of its total protein, while casein is the remaining 80 per cent. Whey protein is a multi-functional, nutritionally complete protein.
As a general category, dairy protein, especially those that are fermented (via a process that breaks down lactose into simple sugars, such as glucose, for easier digestion), help build and maintain muscle, along with essential nutrition from amino acids. In this context, global dairy product launches continue to grow, particularly in sub-sectors like spoonable yogurt (e.g. Icelandic-style Skyr), and drinkable yogurts (kefir and other fermented beverages). Fermentation is the process by which carbohydrates are broken down by micro-organisms such as yeast, bacteria, or fungi. Growing research into the gutbrain axis is advancing opportunities for
Fermented drinks like lassi can drive the demand for dairy products due to its clean label and health credentials.
fermented foods to potentially influence and improve everything, from mood and sleep to immunity and cognitive ability. Fermented foods also enhance the bioavailability of nutrients such as calcium, vitamins, mineral and amino acids. Specifically, fermented dairy products, such as probiotics, can restore gut bacteria balance, improve the immune system, ease digestion, and reduce inflammation or risks, diseases, and allergies associated with the intestinal track. Fermented dairy may also have the ability to improve brain function and mood with increased serotonin production.
In the category of dairy products, familiarity with yogurts, their clean label credentials, and probiotics supporting gut health, are driving the category. In Canada, with an increasingly multicultural society, especially in larger cities, drinkable yogurts could gain further traction in the soft drinks category with carbonated, low-sugar options (think doogh, ayran, and lassi) that have long been popular in west, central, and south Asian cultures. Since consumers are often trying to reduce added sugar, fruit flavours are being incorporated for their natural sweetness. High protein in dairy products, exemplified by Skyr yogurt, continue to move as a new product category. Companies like Liberte, Yoplait, Oikos, Astro, and Danone are all producing high protein yogurt options for the Canadian market.
In premium categories, Brazilian brand Vigor recently launched a probiotic dairy shot called Viv Imune with flavours of lime, honey, ginger, which are associated with positive immunity. Dairy companies are balancing the indulgence of rich flavours with health-focused options, and flavours such as apricot,
orange, mango, vanilla, and chocolate. Blended combinations that seek to distinguish from the mainstream include strawberry-chocolate, banana-caramel, coconut-pineapple, or mixed berries. Canadian dairy cooperative Gay Lea now offers eight different varieties of premium butter, including garlic-parsley, grass-fed, organic, farmhouse (with a whey butter churned to 82 per cent milk fat), and Bakers’ Gold (churned to 84 per cent milk fat), intended for use as a vital ingredient in baking foods at a culinary level. Other premiumization expressions of dairy innovation include U.S.-based Painterland Sisters Dairy, who produce an Icelandic-style Skyr yogurt, which is lactose-free and delivers billions of pro-
biotics using Chr. Hansen’s BB-12 probiotic strain. Seattle-based Ellenos offers a ‘yogurt that makes ice cream jealous’ by handcrafting with local milk, and Pacific Northwest marionberries. The company makes its own fruit purees and has a strong consumer following in the region.
Dairy foods are as much a finished product as they are the ingredients which they are composed of. For example, yogurt cultures utilize bacterial strains to add depth to products such as smoothies, dips, dressings, sour cream, buttermilk, or cheese. Whey protein concentrate, as a byproduct of cheese production, has functionality in sports drinks, nutritional supplements, and a variety of baked goods.
Researchers continue to innovate with dairy. The National Food Institute of the Technical University of Denmark is utilizing lactic acid bacteria to cleave milk sugar. This is reducing the need for added sugar in yogurts.
While bovine-sourced dairy companies may face head winds from a growing consumer and regulatory environment that is conscious of carbon, environmental and animal welfare metrics, the category is also showing clear signs of adaptation along with further optimizing a nutritional, satiating and satisfying food with a long tradition.
Cow milk producers are implementing new grazing programs to ensure the industry does its part to address climate change.
Dairy companies are improving formulations to increase the health profile of milk.
My Little Chickpea TURNS 10
journey from board room to food plant — BY
NITHYA CALEB —
The annual SIAL Canada trade show is a great place to meet innovative food entrepreneurs. One of the inspiring people I met at this year’s edition was Rula Sharkawi, CEO and founder of My Little Chickpea, a gourmet food company in Scarborough, Ont. A trained chef, Sharkawi left a comfortable corporate job to pursue her passion for creating healthy food products that are ready-to-eat, tasty, and made with clean, whole ingredients.
Life begins at 40
My Little Chickpea was Sharkawi’s 40th birthday gift to herself. Call it bravery or insanity—perhaps a mix of both—but in 2012, Sharkawi decided to move away from crisis communications and marketing and plunge into the unknown world of food entrepreneurism. However, it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision. Sharkawi had been toying with the idea of launching a CPG company for some time. In fact, she had registered her company in 2007.
“Food brings people together,” said Sharkawi, who certainly benefited from the shared food experiences that is part of her Middle Eastern culture. She was also concerned about the quality of food available in the market where it isn’t always easy to find the ingredients used. A series of illnesses prompted Sharkawi, a picky eater, to make changes to her diet. Clean, whole foods began to dominate her meals, which made a world of difference to Sharkawi’s health.
These positive outcomes inspired Sharkawi to create a line of food products offering the “same quality as home-cooked meals,” are preservative-free, without refined sugars, and made with clean ingredients.
My Little Chickpea officially began operations in 2013. Sharkawi used all her retirement money to kickstart the business.
Given Sharkawi’s Middle Eastern background and the fact that her parents owned a falafel restaurant, it was a no-brainer for her to first offer a gourmet twist to the ubiquitous, high-protein street food.
Sharkawi hired a product developer, rented a facility in Scarborough, and experimented until she got it right.
Fast forward 10 years, My Little Chickpea has six product lines spanning falafels, veggie balls and burgers. It is selling in
over 500 retail locations across Canada. The products are all RTE and either frozen or refrigerated. They address the growing need for convenient cooking for consumers that are leading busy, demanding lives and don’t have hours to create a healthy meal. One of her popular products is the mushroom risotto balls made with arborio rice and shiitake mushrooms. As Sharkawi explained, the format is innovative. She has transformed a typical entrée into an appetizer with these risotto balls.
Milestones
This mother of two boys has come a long way in her entrepreneurial journey. In 2017, Sharkawi was RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award finalist. In the same year, My Little Chickpea moved to a new, purpose-built facility with BRC certification and Safe Food for Canadians licence in Scarborough.
As a female person of colour entering a new industry, the path hasn’t been easy for Sharkawi. She had to learn everything, from setting margins, hiring staff, commercializing products to shelf life, cash flow, etc. Her passion for offering “real food that tastes good” kept her motivated. Along the way, Sharkawi got support from BDC, industry peers and retailers. She didn’t hesitate to ask for feedback on her products. The feedback helped Sharkawi improve her products. Looking ahead, Sharkawi hopes to export her products. Her parting advice is, “Ask for what you want because when you ask, the possibilities open.”
Founder Rula Sharkawi on her ambitious
Rula Sharkawi, CEO and founder of My Little Chickpea.
ABOVE: My Little Chickpea specializes in RTE appetizers and burgers made with whole ingredients.
Natural Balance and Canidae enter into a definitive merger agreement. The combination unites two specialty pet food brands with complementary, yet differentiated, offerings. For more than 30 years, Natural Balance has offered premium dog and cat food products. Similarly, since its founding 25 years ago, Canidae has a rich history in the pet food space, offering both dog and cat food products with a focus on sustainable operations. The combination will leverage both companies’ shared passion for improving the well-being and lives of pets through simple nutrition, responsibly sourced ingredients, and protein-rich products. The combined company’s flagship offerings will include Canidae’s Pure, Goodness, and All Life Stages, as well as Natural Balance’s Limited Ingredient and Original Ultra product lines.
Hill’s Pet Nutrition unveils Prescription Diet ONC Care
Hill’s Pet Nutrition introduces the Prescription Diet ONC Care, a new clinical nutrition designed to nourish and support pets with cancer. When pets are fighting cancer, malnutrition is one
of the greatest risks, which can make it hard to optimize a pet’s quality of life. Pets can lose lean muscle, experience digestion issues and loss of appetite that can make getting the right nutrients into their bodies much more difficult.
“Appetite is a critical determinant in a pet parents’ perceived quality of life assessment for their pet with cancer,” said Chad Johannes, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM, Oncology), Associate Professor, Colorado State University. “Being proactive and maintaining pets with cancer in a positive nutritional plane over the course of their treatment can improve clinical outcomes as well as quality of life.”
Cult Food Science launches cultured pet
food brands
Cult Food Science expands its pet food division through the launch of three new consumer brands. The new brands will leverage cultivated ingredients in partnership with the company’s portfolio companies.
Noochies (formerly Because Animals brand) uses a patented, cell-cultured nutritional yeast called Bmmune to make cat and dog foods with comparable nutrient specifications to beef or lamb. Based in the heartland of the Hoosier State, Indiana Pet Foods is a cell-based dog food and treat brand made with high purity, tier-1 collagen, formulated for active and senior dogs. Marina Cat is focused on the health benefits of ocean-derived ingredients that promote longevity and immunity. It’s a modern treat for cats, exclusively using cellbased fish and marine ingredients.
“These new brands and products are focused on providing better food options for our pets. High quality inputs for pet foods can be hard to achieve
using traditional sources such as ‘4D’ meats. But cell-based ingredients can provide the potential for healthier and safer options for the pets we love. I am excited to launch these brands to further accelerate our mission of making cell-based foods part of everyday life,” said Lejjy Gafour, CEO of Cult.
Charmy
Pet secures $100k on Dragons Den
Charmy Pet, a pet nutrition startup from Toronto, secured a $100,000 investment on the hit business show, Dragons’ Den. Newcomer co-founders, Zach Sheng and Senia Wang, secured the funding in lieu of a 25 per cent share with venture capitalist Manjit Minhas. The start-up’s pet-treat subscription box provides single-ingredient meat treats and chews for dogs.
This year, the company introduced a new line of pet food that integrates the holistic herbs of traditional Chinese medicine into a freeze-dried formula. Charmy products are available across 600 plus retailers across Eastern Canada, including Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes.
J.M. Smucker divests several pet food brands
J.M. Smucker is selling several pet food brands to Post Holdings, a consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Miss. The transaction is valued at approximately US$1.2 billion, consisting of US$700 million in cash and approximately 5.39 million shares of common stock of Post Holdings. The transaction includes the Rachael Ray Nutrish, 9Lives, Kibbles ‘n Bits, Nature’s Recipe, and Gravy Train brands as well as the Company’s private label pet food business, relevant trade-
Sheng and Senia Wang present Charmy Pet, their pet nutrition startup on Dragons’ Den
line, and 72 per cent compare pet product prices online. Over 65 per cent of millennials like the idea of high-tech pet health products.
Seventy per cent of Gen Zers and 65 per cent of millennials like the idea of telemedicine in addition to or instead of conventional visits to the vet.
marks and licenses, and the company’s manufacturing and distribution facilities in Bloomsburg, Pa., and manufacturing facilities in Meadville, Pa., and Lawrence, Kan.
Mars
Petcare
acquires Champion Petfoods
Mars Petcare acquires Champion Petfoods from an investor group led by Bedford Capital and Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.
Ikdeep Singh, global president, Mars Pet Nutrition, said, “We are thrilled to welcome Champion Petfoods and its more than 800 talented people to the Mars Petcare family. The Champion Petfoods team has been a pioneer in developing high-quality and premium pet food in the natural category that pet lovers around the world trust. Together, we will be even better positioned to support pet lovers and fulfil our purpose to create a better world for pets.”
Champion Petfoods’ dry food products are manufactured in company-owned kitchens in Canada and the United States. Champion Petfoods’ brands complement Mars Petcare’s existing pet food portfolio by adding brands in the premium pet food category.
Pet parents embrace e-commerce
A nationally representative, bilingual survey fielded by Packaged Facts in late 2022 found 41 per cent of Canadian dog and cat owners agreed that they are buying pet products online more than they used to, up from 36 per cent in the 2020 edition of the report.
Packaged Facts estimates that, as of 2022, e-commerce (including smartphone apps) garnered nearly a fourth (23 per cent) of Canadian retail sales of pet products. However, digital dynamics aren’t just about buying products online. Among Canadian dog and cat owners, 41 per cent like the idea of buying high-tech/Internet-enabled products for their pets. More than 80 per cent of Gen Zers research pet products online, 81 per cent research pet services on-
Younger generational cohorts are also significantly more likely to be loyal to the main websites where they shop for pet products, and to say that technology allows them to save time on pet care and spend more quality time with their pets.
Packaged Facts survey results also show that among dog or cat owners, 26 per cent strongly agreed they were willing to spend more on pet foods with extra health and wellness benefits, and another 42 per cent somewhat agreed.
Nearly 65 per cent of pet owners reported spending more on pet products than they used to, whereas just over 35 per cent agreed to some extent that they are spending less on pet products because of the economy, and only 12 per cent strongly agreed.
Zach
WILDER HARRIER’S CLIMATE FRIENDLY PET FOOD
Alternative proteins are the star ingredients in this B Corp
certified brand’s products —
Just like in human-grade food, there are attempts to reduce the meat content in pet food in response to consumer needs for eco-friendly products.
With a curiosity in solving industrial farming challenges in the food system, Phil Poirier, who was then working a finance job in Montreal, stumbled across the 2013 FOA study, Edible insects: Future prospects for food and feed security, about the environmental benefits of insect protein and how it could help minimize the food industry’s carbon footprint.
Environmental benefits
Indeed, insects provide high-quality protein and nutrients compared to meat and fish while producing less GHGs than conventional livestock. For example, crickets need approx. 2000 times less water than cattle per kg of protein.
There are over 2000 species of edible insects. They’re rich in fibre and micronutrients like copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, selenium and zinc.
“Insects are far less land-dependent than conventional livestock farming and can be raised with minimal resources and investments on various substrates, especially in warm climates. It makes them an ideal protein source for at-risk populations,” said Poirier.
BY MONICA FERGUSON
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Poirier couldn’t stop thinking about how insect protein could be the answer to many food supply challenges. He shared the idea with his close friend, Paul Shenouda, and brother Mat Poirier. As they say, the rest is history. In January 2015, BugBites was born. In November 2016, they changed the brand name to Wilder Harrier.
Market research
The team conducted surveys to measure customers’ willingness to eat insects vs. feed them to their pet. They found about 20 per cent of people were open to the idea for
themselves, whereas four times more people were willing to offer them to their pets.
“They considered where the research could have the most impact and reached out to a veterinarian friend as well as a leading pet food formulator,” said Caitlin Benn, director of marketing, Wilder Harrier. “After learning that insects had a strong potential for allergy relief in dogs, they quickly realized they could help pets, their people, and the planet in a profound way. They then got to cooking, literally.”
The team settled on crickets since it was the most widely available edible insect at
Wilder Harrier is a young pet food company with an innovative product portfolio using novel ingredients.
the time with a promising supply chain. “It was also the most consumer-friendly insect on a cultural and psychological levels. They were perceived by early adopters as a superfood with many nutritional claims (B12, iron, omega-3),” said Benn.
Product launch
In November 2015, their first product—oven-baked biscuits made with cricket protein in the two flavours of banana peanut and apple cranberry—was listed in Mondou, one of Quebec’s largest pet retailers, as well as a few other stores in the province.
“The biscuits have since been discontinued and evolved into our soft, low calorie cricket training bites. These bites are a hypoallergenic treat for many reaction-prone pups,” said Benn.
Wilder Harrier has come a long way since they started in 2015, when they were cooking, and tasting, cricket treats themselves. All products are now manufactured in a small, family-owned facility in Montreal with low-temperature extrusion to maintain the nutritional integrity of the ingredients. The company uses unconventional ingredients like invasive carp, crickets and black soldier fly to manufacture farmed insects dry food and cricket training bites.
The company sources most of the protein from local suppliers, with over 90 per cent coming from Canada and the U.S. The black soldier flies come from a variety of insect farms in Quebec, British Columbia, and Europe. The invasive carp are wild caught by smallscale fisheries in Illinois, U.S.
Brand growth
Available direct-to-consumer, the brand is filling up shelves across North America. In fall 2022, it began retailing at Pet Valu. Wilder Harrier products are now distributed in over 1000 retail locations across Canada. In March 2023, Wilder Harrier launched at Whole Foods in the Pacific Northwest. It has plans to expand that retail partnership across the U.S.
The search for other flavourful and nutritious proteins continues at Wilder Harrier. Later this year, the company will be launching a dental chew made with upcycled spent barley from Evergrain by AB InBev.
“We’ve been gaining a lot of momentum recently, particularly among consumers with allergy-prone dogs. This is largely driven by the novelty of our sustainable proteins. There’s still a lot of dogs, though, suffering from itchy skin, hot spots, chronic ear infections, and other recurrent allergy symptoms. We hope to reach and help bring some relief to them,” said Benn.
“It can be tough for people to wrap their heads around, but we think that if they learn the proven, life-changing benefits these ingredients are having on our pets and the environment, the knee-jerk ‘yuck’ reaction will be easy to overcome,” said Poirier.
The Wilder Harrier team is made up of six fulltime employees, which includes the co-founders. Their first employee was hired in November 2020.
The business stemmed from a desire to find new and creative solutions to growing environmental problems. Wilder Harrier partners with Quebec-based Loop Mission to use the leftover fruit and veggie pulp that comes from the making of Loop juices in its vegan biscuits. In 2022, Wilder Harrier become B Corp certified. Additionally, the company donates one per cent of their total annual sales to grassroots environmental groups via their partnership with 1% for the Planet.
With the goal to divert empty pet food bags from landfills, Wilder Harrier created a mail-in recycling program. The brand has saved 156,020,636 L of water, 283,919 kg of CO2, and 576,459 kg of fruits and veggies.
“Ultimately, if we can become the Patagonia of the pet industry, with unfaltering, quality products and an unwavering commitment toward sustainability, then we’ll have succeeded in what we set out to accomplish,” said Poirier.
Wilder Harrier’s cofounders, Phil Poirier, Paul Shenouda, and Mat Poirier.
Wilder Harrier offers training bites in shiitake turmeric, banana peanut, blueberry honey and pumpkin carrot flavours.
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TMad Cow, 20 years later
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois
he Mad Cow Crisis started 20 years ago. For most Canadians, May 20, 2003, means little. But for the beef industry, the situation was nothing less than dreadful. It brought devastation, bankruptcies, and broken families. It was a nightmare.
On May 20, 2003, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency declared that a black Angus cow originating from northern Alberta had been detected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as Mad Cow disease. In response, the United States promptly imposed a ban on Canadian beef and cattle imports, leading to approximately 40 other nations taking similar measures.
Mad cow disease is a fatal illness that gradually deteriorates the brain and spinal cord in cattle. Although humans cannot contract mad cow disease, there is a rare possibility of developing a human variant called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), which is also fatal. Over time, vCJD causes degeneration of the brain and spinal cord. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 500 Americans die every year exhibiting symptoms that match those of the disease. An autopsy is required to properly diagnose the disease.
Canada couldn’t export anything. Since 60 per cent of our beef went overseas, Canada suddenly had too much beef. It took more than two years before the United States reopened its borders. Japan just reopened its borders to Canadian beef in March of this year, almost 20 years later.
When the borders closed and Canada had an overcapacity of beef, Canadians bought more beef in support. In fact, Canada became the only country in the world at the time to see domestic
The Mad Cow crisis started 20 years ago, in May 2003. While much has changed, some things have remained the same.
demand for beef go up after the discovery of its first native BSE case. Everyone was expecting Canadians to fear the product, as we saw in Japan, Europe, and elsewhere. But it didn’t happen. Demand for beef per capita from 2002 to 2003 went up by 1.8 kilos, the highest jump ever. It surprised many. Beef consumption per capita was at 33.6 kilos in 2003. Today, it’s at 24.8 kilos.
Seeing all this unfolding in 2003, the late Anita Stewart, a renowned culinary author, pioneered Food Day Canada to encourage people to eat more Canadian food, including beef. Just recently, our own Parliament officially designated the first Saturday of August as Food Day Canada.
In many ways, the beef industry has changed because of the Mad Cow crisis. Significant improvements have been made in testing and surveillance measures to detect and monitor the presence of BSE. These include stricter protocols for screening cattle, particularly highrisk animals, and improved diagnostic techniques. Additionally, stricter regulations have been implemented regarding the use of animal-derived protein in livestock feed, which was identified as a key factor in the spread of BSE. Canada, like many other countries, has implemented bans and restrictions on the feeding of ruminant
protein to ruminant animals to prevent cross-contamination and the potential transmission of the disease. As such, comprehensive risk mitigation measures have been put in place to prevent the introduction and spread of BSE. These measures include the removal of specified risk materials (SRMs) during meat processing, which are tissues that are most likely to carry BSE infectivity.
However, what has not changed is the dominance of meat packers in Canada. In 2003, when beef prices were incredibly depressed, meat packers were making a fortune as beef retail prices barely changed at all. Prices dropped by about 10 per cent in some markets but went back up again months later. The Mad Cow crisis started as our own BBQ season was getting underway, so packers and grocers likely didn’t see the point of dropping prices at all. Higher retail prices provoked the ire of cattle producers, and they tried to start processing plants on their own. Over 350 projects started at the time, but only two plants started operations, one in Alberta and the other in Saskatchewan. Unfortunately, both plants have since ceased operations, leaving us with a massive oligopoly in meat packing, with three plants processing most of the beef in Canada. This lack of options makes it challenging for cattle farmers to vertically integrate into the meat packing industry. What the Mad Cow crisis has shown us is how resilient the beef industry is. Many families had to sell their farms and move to find work as their operations became unprofitable overnight. Canada remains one of the most dominant beef players in the world, despite the heartaches the sector experienced 20 years ago. It’s something to celebrate over a nice, barbecued steak or hamburger.
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is professor, senior director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab, Dalhousie University, Halifax. He’s also co-host of the Food Professor Podcast.
