“It’s healthier and more savoury,” Mabilat said about Del Monte’s new Fruit Chunks in Fruit Puree snack cup. The snack cups feature soft pieces of two fruit flavours—pear or peach—in creamy fruit puree sweetened with concentrated grape juice. It won a DUX Grands Prix Gala award.

For Mabilat, a 43-year-old with a wealth of international marketing experience and a passion for creating innovative consumer products, the award was both a welcome recognition of the work done by her Del Monte team members and a new milestone in a remarkable personal and professional journey across several continents and industries.

Born in Bourges, a small city in central France, Mabilat’s father Daniel was a maintenance worker at a military equipment plant.

“My dad got me interested in travel,” said Mabilat, who enjoyed economics and sport climbing in school. “Every year we visited a new country.”

Global experience

After studying marketing and international trade at a business school in Paris, Mabilat did several months-long internships at home and abroad. After finishing an MBA in Paris, Mabilat landed her first full-time job in 2005 as an innovation project manager with French cosmetics packaging manufacturer Albea.

“It was a consumer-centric role that focused on the development of innovative packaging to address the challenges women face when using makeup,” said Mabilat.

Three years later, Mabilat joined Decathalon, the world’s largest sporting goods retailer, as product manager, woman footwear.

“I wanted to get more experience in brand and portfolio management,” said Mabilat.

Over the next five years she honed her skills building the women’s range for Newfeel, a brand of urban walking shoes.

“We really focused on end users to identify functional needs and consumer insights,” said Mabilat. “We observed and interviewed users from Beijing to Madrid and San Francisco,” said Mabilat.

The team also worked with designers and engineers to find the right balance between maximum sport shoe comfort and style.

In 2013, Mabilat transferred to Decathalon’s office in Singapore to join her husband Guillaume, who was working there.

A year later she joined Unilever’s global skin care brand Pond’s operations in Singapore as global brand manager merchandising and packaging.

In 2016, the couple moved to Palmdale, Calif. There, Mabilat started an online floral design shop from home while parenting two young children. She closed the business in 2020 when the couple moved to Montreal for Guillaume’s work. After a brief stint as e-commerce manager with apparel maker Lamour, Mabilat was hired as Del Monte brand manager in 2021.

“At first I was hesitant because it involved processed foods,” she said. “But then I saw it as a chance to have a positive impact by helping to create more nutritional products.”

In addition to the new fruit chunks in puree product, Mabilat said Del Monte has removed all artificial flavours from its products in Canada since her arrival.

“I love what I do,” she said. “And I love Montreal. It’s been an easy transition for us because we’re French. But it’s also an amazing place to raise a family.” 

This article was originally published in the April/May 2024 issue of Food in Canada.

Growing up, he remembers spending the summers working on his grandfather’s farm. Later on, he pursued a master’s degree in agricultural science from McGill University in Montreal. After graduating, he worked in the PEI Department of Agriculture and eventually he became the deputy minister for the department. And for the past seven years, he’s been the director of environmental sustainability operations at Cavendish Farms.

A changing industry

Over his many decades in the industry, MacQuarrie has seen agriculture change and evolve. One of the biggest changes, he says, is today’s focus on sustainability.

“Historically, we were focused on production,” he explains. “It was all about how much can we produce per square acre. But today, our customers want to know how the food was grown. They’re as concerned about sustainability as they are about the quality of the product.”

MacQuarrie says that the industry’s focus on sustainable food production is the reason he joined Cavendish Farms. In fact, he was hired to fill a newly created position dedicated to the environment and sustainability.

Cavendish Farms has customers all over the globe, and MacQuarrie says that a growing number of these customers are looking at the bigger picture.

“They want to know how we are engaging with farmers to help them farm more sustainably, what we’re doing to measure our own greenhouse gas emissions, and how we plan to reduce those emissions,” he says.

Two decades ago customers weren’t asking these questions. “Today they are, and that’s why Cavendish Farms needed to have someone who can stay focused on the matter,” MacQuarrie says.

ESG reports

Running a successful food production operation today is about more than simply offering the best price for a pound of produce. It’s also about explaining how that produce was grown and harvested.

“One of our challenges is simply keeping up with our customers’ demands for more and more information,” MacQuarrie explains. “Our ESG [environment social governance] reports cover all aspects of our business, and one of our goals is to package this information in an efficient manner that answers our customers’ questions and concerns.”

Economic benefits

Sustainability and economic benefits go hand-in-hand, MacQuarrie says, which is why he’s determined to help farmers see the economic benefits of managing their crops responsibly.

What’s good for farmers, is good for Cavendish Farms, and MacQuarrie argues that sustainability can benefit companies financially.

“When we use our resources, like water and fuel more responsibly, and we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we see an economic benefit,” he adds.

One of the reasons MacQuarrie was first attracted to Cavendish Farms, he says, is that their commitment to the environment and to sustainability is real.

“Some workplaces talk a lot about  values,” he says, “but at Cavendish Farms, it’s more than just a poster on a wall. That’s why I feel so lucky to work for an organization like this.” 

This article was originally published in the April/May 2024 issue of Food in Canada.

“I’ve always been interested in the CPG industry—ever since I was a young kid,” she admits. “When I was nine years old, I sent ad campaign ideas and product recommendations to some of my favourite toys and treat companies, and luckily, they engaged and responded to me. I loved the idea of improving products to make them more enjoyable for me and my friends. At the time, I wasn’t thinking too much about it, but it was ultimately the foundation of my passion for consumers. So, it’s only natural that this enthusiasm led me to the CPG industry.”

Despite her enthusiasm for the industry, Thompson’s journey from nine-year-old corporate advisor to GM of Mars Wrigley Canada was anything but a straight line.

“I started my career in a completely different industry, but I could never replicate the excitement and enthusiasm that I found as a nine-year-old passionate about consumer products,” she says.

While she enjoys the diversity the CPG industry offers, she definitely has a favourite. “I’ve been with Mars for 13 years and have always felt passionate about my work, whether it’s ice cream, pet care or confectionery,” she explains. “But I must say, the great thing about coming back to confection is I get to be both a marketer and a consumer of what we produce. And personally, I love sharing the products with my kids and seeing their excitement for the brands.”

Understanding the consumer

In addition to a degree in general management and marketing, Thompson also has a degree in psychology, which she says has helped her better understand consumers.

“I’ve found that my psychology degree has helped immensely throughout my career,” she says. “In an industry where consumers have such personal memories and feelings tied to the products, it’s especially important to understand what drives them, what brings them joy, but also what turns them off.”

This understanding of human psychology, she adds, has also helped her better manage employees.

“True leadership is all about understanding people, figuring out what you can do to support them, helping them achieve their goals and ambitions, and taking care of the whole person,” she says. “And just as in marketing, understanding motivational triggers is very helpful in not only getting the best out of your team, but also in fostering and retaining your talent.”

Challenges and opportunities

Thompson is well aware of the pain today’s consumers experience when they see the price of groceries edging upwards, week after week.

“In our industry and beyond, affordability is top of mind for everyone,” she says. “We make every effort to minimize costs to provide a full range of delicious products while making sure we preserve both the value and quality of our iconic brands.”

While affordability will continue to be an issue with consumers, Thompson is committed to navigating the choppy waters ahead.

“My goal is for Mars to lead the pack and show the industry what’s possible when you lead with purpose, never compromise on quality and centre your decisions around consumer insights,” she concludes.

This article was originally published in the April/May 2024 issue of Food in Canada.

Food prices have increased by 21.6 per cent in the last three years and almost 7 million people have experienced food insecurity including almost 2 million children. Further, food price inflation has reached its highest rate since the early 1980s, with prices rising by an average of 10 per cent in 2022 and a further five-seven per cent in 2023.

The white paper, Unpuzzling Food Inflation: How Innovation Adoption by Canada’s Food Processing Sector will Flatten the Curve, highlights the various factors contributing to the rise in food prices—high input costs, labour expenses, staffing shortages, and geopolitical risks. It also explains how the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the situation, causing supply chain disruptions and further driving costs.

The white paper emphasizes the need for innovation to control food prices and reduce food insecurity.

Labour challenges and rising input costs

Canada’s F&B businesses are struggling with labour shortages, impacting production and increasing consumer prices. The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC) reports a deficit of 50,000 workers and predicts 66,800 retirements by 2030, costing the sector up to $3.6 billion annually.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and Food and Beverage Canada (FBC) found manufacturers are typically 25 per cent understaffed.

Kristina Farrell, FBC CEO, said traditional policy tools help the industry address immediate labour shortfalls, but they cannot fully account for shifting demographics and an ageing workforce.

“The systemic and chronic labour shortfalls in our sector require an innovation-based approach – such as the businesses and stakeholder ecosystem that CFIN is fostering – to drive technological innovation in a way that complements and builds workers’ skills, and empowers them to be more productive,” Farrell is quoted as saying in the white paper.

Shelf life and food waste

The World Food Program (WFP) reports that throughout the supply chain, one-third of global food production is wasted annually. In Canada, 58 per cent of produced food is wasted, valued at $49 billion. This waste contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, with over 56 million tons of GHGs emitted annually in Canada.

Michael Graydon, CEO of Food, Health and Consumer Products of Canada said the country’s F&B sector is working to reduce waste by finding innovative ways of addressing waste in manufacturing and production processes.

“Due to the huge scale of the issue, Canada needs to leverage innovation to create new manufacturing processes, recycling and re-use options, and food preservation techniques to truly change the waste dynamic,” Graydon said in the white paper.

Commercial dynamics in the F&B sector

Most of the 7,600 F&B processors in Canada are small or medium-sized businesses with fewer than 100 employees. These companies often lack the resources for innovation and competitive pricing compared to larger brands. New vision and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are helping smaller processors by providing accurate data to optimize production and reduce costs, ultimately preventing future food price increases.

The white paper mentions several F&B companies with innovations in the foodtech space. Vancouver’s Purdy’s Chocolatier has reduced the cost of its ingredients and improved the nutritional profile of its chocolates by testing new food ingredients. Toronto’s Laplace Robotics has deployed AI to enhance the functionality of robotic and vision systems on manufacturing lines, thereby improving productivity and quality in food manufacturing. Plan Automation, Bolton, Ont., has developed an X-ray system to reduce food waste by identifying contaminants in food batches.

In the foreword section of the white paper, CFIN CEO Dana McCauley said, “Canada is ripe for innovation in the food industry as a solution to competitiveness, productivity, and food inflation challenges.”

To comprehensively address rising food costs, Canada must accelerate innovation in the food and beverage manufacturing sector, stressed the white paper. This will require time, dedication, and investment, but it is achievable, McCauley added.

“I’ve been lucky to have had the opportunity to work on products that make people’s lives better and/or bring them moments of joy,” she says. “I am excited every day to work with the countless PFC brands that people know and love.”

Ferdinando has been president of PFC since 2022, a role that includes leadership of Frito Lay Canada and Quaker Canada. Previously, she was chief marketing officer of Frito-Lay North America. Prior to joining PepsiCo, she was VP and global sector leader for family care at Kimberly-Clark Corporation. Throughout her career, Ferdinando was able to work all over the world, giving her “a unique perspective as a leader,” while also “enriching my ability to connect with people anywhere I go.”

After becoming PFC president, Ferdinando connected with as many PFC employees as possible. She led a national listening tour, visiting all company regions and plants with a focus on hearing from frontline employees. This resulted in her creation of a new vision for PFC, along with more investment in expanding employee recognition and appreciation.

Last year, Ferdinando connected with every Frito Lay Canada plant team and region zone team across the nation.

“I was also fortunate to visit the impressive family farms where we source our ingredients,” she shares. “I’ve learned so much about the end-to-end journey of our products and the broader and very dynamic Canadian food system. Spending time with the hard-working people who make, move, and sell our products is one of the best parts of my job.”

Always a learner

Regarding those products, Ferdinando is very proud of her team’s commitment to consumer-centric innovation. “With the strong diversity that’s present in Canada, we’ve innovated products to meet the unique preferences of multicultural Canadians,” she says, “whether it’s through new, bold flavours or using successful flavours from other markets.”

Ferdinando explains that continuous learning is essential for her.

“I take the opportunity to learn from everyone I meet,” she says. “I also like to tap into my science training to break down complex problems and explore them in different ways. The more I learn, the more I can help others grow and succeed. Leadership as PFC president means uplifting those around me. I’m passionate about continuing to support the advancement of women and our inclusive culture at PFC, as well as efforts to enhance employee wellness, including clear boundaries between work and home life.”

Ferdinando is excited to continue realizing her company’s vision to inspire more joy for tomorrow’s food experiences, sustainably.

“Where we go is very much a team approach, grounded in our field-first culture,” she says. “We have strong plans in place to build on some of the incredible work we’ve already delivered and become bigger and better than ever before. My top goal is removing barriers for our valued frontline colleagues who make up about 90 per cent of our employees. I want to ensure PFC is a great place to work for everyone, especially the frontline, and I will continue to listen and engage with those colleagues going forward.”

This article was originally published in the April/May 2024 issue of Food in Canada.

Like many of his peers, Cator started working at the family business as a young teen and then studied business.

“All I knew is that I didn’t want to be bored,” he says, “and I never have been. There are so many intricacies involved in producing meat products, and I love the close relationships with our customers, as well as leading our outstanding team.”

Cator learned how to innovate from Ralph (who almost single-handedly made the concept of the burger mainstream in Canada decades ago, and for that and more, was inducted into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame). About 30 years ago, Ralph was supposed to retire, but “he was determined to develop a cooked rib product in my mother’s sauce,” says Cator, “and if we didn’t do it, he was going to do it with someone else.”

This push resulted in one of Cardinal’s biggest achievements, where Cator led the creation of their now-famous Safe Sous Vide cooking process by collaborating with scientists from two universities over three years. The team adapted the sous vide cooking method used by chefs into a patented large-scale industrial process that has been a phenomenal success (and also led to changes in regulatory law). The products, which Cator says are cost-effective, consistent, food-safe, and delicious, are from underutilized cuts and have been in hot demand since the start from both home cooks and restaurants.

“We made cooked ribs, of course, but also many other products like shredded pork, chicken breasts in lemon-pepper sauce, bone-in half chicken, and meat loaf,” says Cator.

The art of forming burgers

The success of Safe Sous Vide prompted Cator to further innovate. He brought in biological food safety testing, and with VP of operations John Vatri, discovered a method that meat processing plants could use to make ground meat safer.

“Again, we advanced food safety regulations in Canada and the U.S.,” says Cator.

Further innovation followed. Cardinal was the first to use Tender-Form fill to create burger patties. The company’s philosophy of ‘once innovated, innovate again’ led to also commercializing their burgers made using a unique Natural Texture Formed forming technology. In total, so far, Cardinal Meats holds three patents.

Just in the last year, the Cardinal product line grew by leaps and bounds, and Cator anticipates more expansion, especially in the Safe Sous Vide line.

“It’s as fresh as if a chef just made it,” says Cator. “Its popularity is really growing right now, with restaurants needing to save labour and more people eating at home but wanting a special experience.”

Cator wants to explore using Safe Sous Vide in starchy dishes, but says, “I’d like to spend more time researching technologies from around the world to add to the business. I love the customer intimacy, I love the speed of this industry, [and] I love the challenges. I want to hear what our customers wish they could get, and then find how we can do that. I love my team. I’m very proud of our company culture. Our staff is very engaged and like me, they believe there is always a better way.”

This article was originally published in the April/May 2024 issue of Food in Canada.

“I was drawn to Gay Lea Foods for many reasons,” she says, “one of which is the fact that’s it’s a co-operative, and that’s something that really appealed to me, having worked in big multinationals for over two decades.”

Dalrymple’s previous experience with a private company, as well as a large public company, helped her see the difference a co-operative like Gay Lea Foods can make.

“Gay Lea measures success not only by the value that we create, but also the value that we give back,” she says. “We’re really committed to finding the right balance between delivering performance, developing our people, and doing right by our community. That was really appealing as I was thinking about my next move.”

Gay Lea Foods’ rich history was also appealing to Dalrymple.

“I feel really privileged to be working for a business that was started in 1958 by a group of dairy farmers, who for generations, through hard work and determination have built Gay Lea into a sizeable and meaningful business that’s really committed to furthering the dairy industry.”

Dalrymple is well aware of the bigger picture that defines what Gay Lea Foods values as an organization.

“It’s a great opportunity and a great responsibility,” she explains. “I don’t know if I feel more or less pressure working for a group of dairy farmers, but it’s all about how we stay true to our values, and how we make smart decisions that will ultimately lead to a better tomorrow, so that we can have a home for our members’ milk and build a sustainable and growing dairy industry.”

Walking the talk

According to Dalrymple, as a co-operative, Gay Lea Foods is focused on more than just the next quarter. “It’s really rooted in the values of balancing profits, the people, and the planet,” she says. “I think a lot of companies nowadays talk that way, but Gay Lea has been committed [to this philosophy] for generations, and Gay Lea really does make a difference, does think about long-term sustainable growth and the impact on communities, in almost equal measure.”

Like any other segment of the economy, the dairy industry is facing several challenges, including trade issues and the need for innovation. These issues, however, don’t intimidate Dalrymple. Rather, she feels energized, excited and is eager to tackle them head-on.

“I’m in year one of our five-year strategic plan,” she says. “I’ve got a lot of heavy lifting to deliver the next five years, and I’m doing it with a great team. So that’s my focus. It’s still early days, and I’m excited about what we’ve been able to accomplish in a short period of time. It’s been great working with both the board of directors, as well as the management team and all the employees. I’m excited about seeing all this through.”

This article was originally published in the April/May 2024 issue of Food in Canada.

Meeting the functionality of dairy proteins with plant-based proteins is a major challenge, considering how structurally different plant seed storage proteins are from dairy proteins. Additionally, dairy proteins are generally more stable against aggregation and other quality defects at the pH of coffee compared to plant-based proteins.

Given these challenges, an approach to identify and quantify the functionality gaps between dairy and commercial plant-based milk products has been established via functionality mapping. Using barista-style non-dairy milk as a core example, a mapping approach was applied, then leveraged to understand from a structure-function standpoint why plant-based commercial offerings are functionally inferior to dairy; identify the quantitative targets for bridging the gap; and guide the creation of a winning plant-based solution.

Tracking patterns in how different formulations perform allows such an approach to have the highest level of success in developing a novel ingredient system for plant-based dairy beverage in general, and barista-style dairy beverage functionality in particular. It also demonstrates how utilizing a functionality mapping approach can progress ingredient structure-function understanding and catalyze the development of novel plant-based food and beverage applications.

Meeting consumer plant-based demands

The steady growth in sales of plant-based milk continues to be strong and already is closing in on US$3 billion annually at a double-digit CAGR of 11 per cent, according to research conducted by the marketing group SPINS conducted for 52 weeks, ending January 2023. Multiple reasons for this growth include overall consumer interest toward plant-based/healthier diets, sustainability, and animal welfare concerns.

In fact, as SPINS included in its report, plant-based milk currently makes up some 15 per cent of the overall retail milk sales market. But merely being plant-based isn’t enough: Consumers need plant-based milk alternatives to meet the functionality, taste, and nutrition of their dairy-based counterparts. As the non-dairy milk market grows, products must evolve to meet consumer needs.

Dairy milk is typically perceived as the benchmark standard when it comes to improving taste, nutrition, and functionality of a plant-based replacer. And functionality is especially important when it comes to crafting plant-based versions of so-called ‘barista milk.’ With the rise of specialty foamed coffee beverages, consumers seek strong foaming functionality as dairy milk.

Determining and measuring the texture gap

When it comes to popular barista milk, there is a major gap to fill between plant-based versions and the dairy ones being mimicked. The plant-based versions must overcome the common challenges of creating and holding a foam, having a smooth and creamy foam texture, and avoiding formation of particulates and separation in hot and/or acidic beverages, all while carrying perfect flavour.

The protein structure and composition of dairy components are perfectly designed for high water-solubility, leading to a smooth and stable system when added to coffee. Moreover, dairy protein structure and composition allow for strong foaming capacity and stability, such that their barista milk attain and maintain foam volume and quality over time.

Issues challenging plant-based dairy analogs, especially those of plant-based barista milk, include low water-solubility of certain components. This is because plant proteins are designed to pack tightly together in mostly dry environments—the protein molecules are typically large and highly hydrophobic. This lower solubility and marked structural and compositional differences translate to weaker foaming properties, poor foam height, poor foam quality, agglomeration/aggregation, and particle settling — the plant-based alternatives clump and separate when exposed to the heat and acid of a coffee or tea beverage.

However, these challenges go beyond barista milk and extend to all plant-based versions of animal-based dairy products. By approaching the advancement of plant-based ingredient structure-function understanding, it is possible to move closer to the animal-based ‘gold standards’ and develop analogs that effectively meet them with full organoleptic experience and functionality.

Bridging the gap with functionality mapping

To bridge the plant-based dairy/animal-based dairy ‘texture gap,’  it is important to first identify the key functionalities that must be met. Then, developers would design a methodology to adequately measure functionality, and map current plant-based functionality vs. animal-based gold standards to quantify key components of the  starting point and the desired end point. Once these processes are in place, it is possible to leverage that mapping into a hypothesis-based testing that drives development of the solution.

Using barista milk as an example, as described above the key  functionalities are: generation and stabilization of foam, having a smooth and creamy microfoam texture, and avoiding the agglomeration, aggregation, and particle settling that causes separation and textural challenges in hot/acidic beverages. And, of course, the solution must deliver the full promised flavours, without any off notes or bitterness that sometimes can accompany plant-based proteins. For example, when it comes to barista milk, the methodology developed for creating a plant-based version would focus on foam generation. This would include initial foam volume (foam capacity), foam stability (via measurement of liquid drainage volume over time), and finally its pourability, foam bubble size, and stability when actually poured over a true hot espresso coffee beverage.

Focusing in on foaming capacity and stability as an example, after relevant methodology is developed to characterize these functionalities, functionality mapping of the current commercial landscape would characterize the gap between plant-based and dairy. This could include characterizing and comparing foam volume and stability of multiple bases—almond, oat, pea, and true dairy milk—in both plain dairy milk and barista-style milk. This functionality mapping would reveal trends in functionality by base, protein content, presence of particular ingredients, etc. to characterize the landscape. Additionally, this would allow for quantification of dairy targets and the gap between commercial plant-based and dairy options.

Adjusting levers to unlock solutions

Adopting a multi-ingredient system approach to meet the performance targets of dairy with a plant-based milk product centres on the functional needs of the final product. This then requires establishing proposed structures to meet those functional needs. In the case of plant-based milk analogs, two components to a foaming solution that could work in harmony are protein and hydrocolloid. Certain plant-based proteins can provide foaming capacity depending on their structure and composition, whereas hydrocolloids can provide foaming stability to address functionality gaps between plant-based and dairy. Functionality mapping of different protein-hydrocolloid systems via hypothesis-driven testing can build the ingredient structure-function understanding that unlocks a plant-based barista milk solution. To do this, a proper design of experiments testing ranges of protein and hydrocolloid usage levels allow for tracking of impact of these levers on functionality, and optimization of these two components to meet the dairy-based product functionality target.

Answering key questions

Through the outlined methods of functionality mapping, the approach to crafting consumer-preferred plant-based dairy replacers and analogs can be successfully established. This involves first focusing on three key questions: Have the functionalities that matter to consumers been properly identified? Are the functional performance parameters being measured in a relevant way? And have the gaps between the starting point and the end goal been correctly identified and characterized?

In identifying and quantifying functionality and performance gaps between dairy and plant-based milk, including barista beverages, such a mapping approach can be leveraged to enhance ingredient structure-function understanding and guide the development of a novel plant-based solution.

Based in Westchester, Ill., Alexandra Hall, PhD, is an analytical characterization and texture scientist at Ingredion.

This article was originally published in the April/May 2024 issue of Food in Canada.

Many chocolate companies, like Daniel Chocolates in Vancouver, only use all-natural ingredients. “We use real cream, real fruits and actual herbs and spices,” says owner Monique Poncelet. “We use only plants and fruits, such as cinnamon, ginger and lime, to provide natural flavours.”

Constance Menzies, founder of Chocolatier Constance Popp in Winnipeg, also uses natural ingredients such as real fruit puree in her products.

Many Canadian chocolate companies have no added ingredients in their bars—cocoa beans are ground into delicious pure chocolate. These bars are “hugely popular” at Sirene Chocolate in Victoria, B.C. “For those who haven’t tried it, it’s surprisingly good,” says founder Taylor Kennedy. He describes the flavour experience as savoury, “more akin to a strong black espresso or a neat whisky.”

Galerie au Chocolat offers a line of no added sugar chocolate bars, barks and almond butter cups sweetened with stevia and erythritol. They added more cocoa butter and vanilla to mask the stevia aftertaste. Photo © Galerie au Chocolat

Natural sweeteners

Sugar in moderation is not unhealthy and the amount of sugar in true chocolate is low. However, some people prefer no added sugar in their foods for various health reasons, including diabetics and dietary choices. For this reason, interest in chocolate with stevia and other plant-based natural sweeteners surfaced in recent years, although it seems to have waned somewhat at this point. As Julianna Tan notes (who owns Those Girls at the Market in Saskatoon, Sask., along with her sister Ying), “people’s perception of alternative sweeteners, including xylitol and stevia, vary greatly.”

Several Canadian chocolate companies have done some product development with these ingredients. Several years ago, Dominique and Cindy Duby at Wild Sweets in Richmond, B.C., ordered samples of maltitol and more from suppliers, but decided against further product development for a couple of reasons.

“Maybe it had something to do with the type of xylitol that we got (although we had a similar effect when we received a sugar-free chocolate bar made with xylitol), but it felt to us that it was similar to the cooling effect that you get with mouthwash,” they report.

Maltitol was a potential option, but the Dubys note that its added cost on top of the price of their premium bean-to-bar chocolate would have been too  high for their customer base.

However companies like Galerie au Chocolat have found success with alternative sweeteners. In 2022, the company launched a line of no added sugar chocolate bars, barks and almond butter cups sweetened with stevia and erythritol.

“Some people can taste stevia,” notes Sellier, “so we accounted for this and added even more cocoa butter and an extra splash of vanilla. The resulting taste is very good, very smooth and delicious.”

Added healthy ingredients

While cocoa beans are high in antioxidants, many consumers are interested in chocolate that has extra antioxidants and healthy ingredients, such as berries, ginger, cinnamon, and turmeric. Daniel Chocolates is currently developing chocolates containing additional Omega-3 fatty acids. These vegan products will also have high levels of protein and fibre.

The Better Chocolate offers FourX Better Chocolates, a line of supplements (vitamins and minerals) in a dark chocolate ‘bite,’ as well as a line of functional chocolate. The company’s products contain MCT oil (which may promote nutrient absorption) and piperine (found in black pepper and having anti-cancer, antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-obesity, cardioprotective, antimicrobial, anti-ageing, and immune-boosting effects).

The Tan sisters create a monthly ‘feature bar,’ which often contain ingredients like goji berry and beet that have extra antioxidants and/or other health-promoting properties. Julianna notes that while “the feature flavours do not always appeal to the mass public, their limited availability, novelty and ability to stimulate both awareness and conversation about certain ingredients make them hot sellers.”

Tan also believes that even if it’s not feasible to add a high dose of a particular health-promoting compound in each product, “having the opportunity to engage in discussion and spread awareness about certain ingredients is a worthy endeavour. For example, in our matcha green tea chocolate bar, we include one full serving of matcha green tea in each eight-piece chocolate bar, but when we market it, we focus on the difference between L-theanine and caffeine when it comes to focus, concentration and productivity.” L-theanine, an amino acid with several health benefits, is found in high amounts in matcha.

In the end, Tan notes that for some customers, eating their bars with matcha or another healthy ingredient might be their first experience with these ingredients, and this introduction may prompt its inclusion as a regular part of the diet. However, transparency about the amount of an ingredient in a chocolate product is very important to Tan, so as not to mislead consumers.

The Dubys also have an interest in accuracy. They explain that just because a certain ingredient, such as matcha, has scientifically identified health benefits, this doesn’t necessarily mean those benefits will be present in a finished product like chocolate.

Process matters

As is the case with many food products, some antioxidants are lost during the manufacturing of chocolate. However, as noted by scientists at the University of British Columbia several years ago, fewer can be lost if chocolate processing is done in specific ways.

The Dubys report that they worked with these scientists to compare their chocolate to other products on the market. “We tested against large global industrial chocolate companies and found that our product, through tested and adjusted procedures, was higher in antioxidants than those brands,” they explain. “Yet, everyone makes the claim that dark chocolate is ‘healthy’ without any evidence that their chocolate actually contains any significant amount of antioxidants.”

The Dubys therefore focus on specific ways of roasting, conching, and completing the other steps in making chocolate, “as well as evaluating and improving the effect of mechanical actions during the different steps” to reduce loss or boost levels of antioxidants.

It seems in the end that those wanting healthier chocolate, however they define it, need to do their due diligence, as is the case with all other food products when it comes to health.

“I come from a family of entrepreneurs. My mom’s an entrepreneur, my grandmother was an entrepreneur, my great-grandmother was an entrepreneur, so I feel like entrepreneurship runs in my blood. As a child, I was always told to create my own destiny. So that was kind of instilled in me growing up,” recalled Bednarski-Malik.

Her passion for food and nutrition eventually led her to become a dietitian as well as attend culinary school. Her professional quest then became one of finding ways to merge her culinary skills and nutrition. Sadly, a health issue pumped the brakes on her plans and made her focus on healing herself.

“It took me two years to recover from an eating disorder. During that process, I reconnected with food and found my love for food again,” said Bednarski-Malik.

In 2014, she decided to create foods that made her feel good. She began experimenting with kale.

“I love vegetables. I would eat these kale chips, and I felt okay. They’re healthy, low in sugar, nutrient dense, and I could feel good about eating them,” she said.

Julie Bednarski-Malik, MHSc, PHEc, RD.

Starbucks as partner

Bednarski-Malik wasn’t the only one who liked the kale chips; her friends and family members found it delicious too. Thus began Healthy Crunch in 2014. It was also fortuitous that her first customer was Starbucks.

Bednarski-Malik was making her kale chips at a collective kitchen where she was renting a table by the hour. During a networking event at the kitchen, Bednarski-Malik offered her chips to a woman who wanted to share them with her friend. She didn’t know then, but the friend was Rossann Williams, head of Starbucks North America at that time. As the story goes, Williams loved the kale chips and contracted Healthy Crunch to make them for Starbucks.

“We started off with one really great partner who believed in us. And Starbucks was such a great customer to launch with because they have a [huge] brand presence. When you’re in Starbucks, people believe you’re legitimate. One year after launching in Starbucks, we had tremendous growth,” she recalled.

The company ended up with listings at Costco, Shoppers Drug Mart, Loblaws, and Ikea.

“Our kale chips were everywhere; all over Canada, in airports and movie theatres. Cineplex was selling our kale chips. kale was on trend at the time,” she said. “It was the colour of the year. It was just about being at the right place at the right time. I think all the stars were aligned for it to happen.”

The success was immensely appreciated because kale chips is a challenging product to manufacture. It’s a three-day process. Bednarski-Malik also faced supply issues.

“There are not that many kale chips out there right now because it’s very fragile. It takes a long time to make. You’re using fresh ingredients. Sometimes kale is fluffy and sometimes it’s not. There are so many variables to it,” she explained.

Despite the challenges, Healthy Crunch continued making its flagship product. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, they couldn’t source the required amount of kale, and the company had to discontinue its most popular product.

Beyond chips

This decision kick-started the next phase of Healthy Crunch, which celebrates its 10^th anniversary this year (If you’re missing their kale chips, Healthy Crunch has relaunched it as part of their anniversary celebrations). It currently has more than 120 vegan, school-approved products, such as seed butters and jams, granola bars, trail mixes, crispy squares, dark chocolates and instant lattes. Their most popular products are granola bars and dark chocolates.

“We have to be super unique, but we also don’t want to be too unique where we have to educate the customer,” she explained. “We launched into categories where consumers know the product.”

For instance, jams, but with a Healthy Crunch twist, meaning reduced sugar, increased fibre, a clean ingredient deck without additives, colourings and preservatives. Another example is their nutrient-dense crispy squares instead of the full-on sugar rush that comes with typical rice crispies.

Bednarski-Malik chose this middle ground because consumer awareness takes a long time and resources. For a lean company like Healthy Crunch with only 12 employees, it’s not profitable to be launching uber niche products and spending thousands of dollars in raising awareness about new product categories.

Healthy Crunch manufactures its products out of a SQF level two certified facility in Mississauga, Ont. The products are free of 11 major food allergens, which comes out of Bednarski-Malik’s desire to make healthy eating inclusive. They have more than 20,000 points of distribution.

Healthy Crunch products are also sold in the U.S., the U.K. and the Middle East. After a decade of sustained growth, Bednarski-Malik is now ready to expand into other markets.

“There are a lot of major U.S. retailers that we want to launch into like Target and some other larger product categories too. I’m also thinking of launching into Europe, as there’s so much opportunity over there,” she said.

Bednarski-Malik strongly feels Healthy Crunch has the potential to take advantage of the whitespace in the global better-for-you category.

Robot utilization on the rise

When Canadian decision-makers weigh the pros and cons of adding robots to their workflows, many wonder if these advanced machines can fit into their budgets. Fortunately, some robotics vendors prioritize affordability in their business models.

For example, Formic Robotics is an Illinois-based company that offers by-the-hour contracts that allow manufacturers to pay for their robots only after they’re installed and operational. According to a report in the Wired, Polar Manufacturing, which uses Formic’s technology, found the solution costs the equivalent of US$8 an hour to run, making it less expensive than hiring a person to do the job.

Additionally, statistics published by the International Federation of Robotics in 2024 showed the world hit a record of 3.9 million operational robots in 2022. The report indicated the world average for robot implementation is 151 machines installed per 10,000 employees. However, Canada’s rate is slightly higher, at 198 robots per 10,000 workers.

Since robots are becoming more affordable and easier to obtain, some Canadian beverage manufacturers are beginning to realize investing in these machines could help them stay competitive in a challenging and changing market. Some can also gather real-time analytics from the machines and use the statistics to achieve continuous improvement.

Cyberworks Robotics’ autonomous self-driving technology automates manual tow tugs and forklifts without making any changes to the infrastructure of a facility. Photo © Canadian Food Innovation Network

Achieving better output

Some decision-makers choose robots to help them with repetitive tasks, such as bottling. That approach gives them better consistency, and allows factories to boost overall output.

In 2023, Coca-Cola announced a $70 million investment for a Calgary bottling plant. It will result in a new high-density warehouse on an existing property, and the building will have the company’s first automated storage and retrieval system. The 60,000-sf warehouse will have enough room to store 19,000 pallets of products.

Some Canadian brewers have also budgeted for robotic canning solutions. Ross Alger, owner of Alberta’s Confluence Distillery, uses a 14-sf machine that can fill 45 cases per hour. He appreciates how the robot’s compact size supports his company’s output.

He says employees only need to can a small percentage of the overall product amount made yearly and do it just a few times per month. That meant a larger system didn’t make sense from a floor space or financial standpoint.

Formic Robotics offers by-the-hour contracts, which allows manufacturers to test out at the technology in an affordable manner. Photo © CNW Group/Nulogy Corporation

Tackling labour shortages

It’s also becoming more common for people in the beverage industry to rely on robots for moving heavy loads, such as cartons and pallets of ready-to-ship drinks. Self-driving forklifts reduce the number of people needed to do those jobs while minimizing injuries. Ontario’s Cyberworks Robotics provides technology that turns manual tow tugs and forklifts into fully automated vehicles without changing a facility’s infrastructure. The company received $227,946 from the Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) to pilot test their technology in a live F&B facility.

Tow tugs and forklifts usually require humans to steer and pull them. However, labour shortages make it difficult to fill these handling-related manufacturing roles. A June 2023 Canadian labour market report found many respondents are anticipating challenges related to finding and keeping employees. Among the surveyed groups, manufacturing businesses were most likely (over 48 per cent) to expect issues around finding skilled workers.

Self-driving robots can’t wholly solve this issue. However, they can certainly help by accomplishing tasks with fewer people and easing the challenges caused by personnel absenteeism due to injury or other issues.

Reducing manufacturing waste

As consumers and producers alike become more focused on waste reduction, many are interested in making new, viable products from ingredients that are generally discarded. Ontario’s Dairy Distillery makes vodka from milk permeate, a dairy industry byproduct. The company invested in a partially automated solution to improve its labelling process. Its previous equipment had a 50 per cent error rate, and employees needed at least five minutes per bottle to fix the issue if they noticed it during packaging.

The company now uses a machine-vision camera system that automatically detects the label’s elements and shows the manufacturing worker a real-time image on a grid. That person uses those details to ensure they place the label squarely on the container. This approach addresses wasted time and labels. Another aspect of the company’s automation investment involves a quality control app that automatically recognizes in-tolerance label positioning and assigns a pass or fail grade.

Some manufacturers also use other high-tech solutions, such as sensors that can tell when food has spoiled or is in an environment where spoilage will happen without proactive measures.

Vancouver-based Trendi is a robotics and agritech startup that uses a different method of waste reduction. Its system consists of two main components. The first is BioTrim, an autonomous mobile freeze-drying unit that converts fruits and vegetables unfit for sale in their current conditions into shelf-stable products. These units can be used onsite, at manufacturing plants or farms. The second aspect of the business model is the Smoothie Machine. This automated vending device uses upcycled produce to create smoothies on demand.

These examples are only a sampling of the exciting things possible when Canadian manufacturers apply robots to their beverage-making processes. Individuals interested in taking similar approaches in their factories will get the best results by customizing their efforts according to goals, plans, budgets, and current workforce size.

They should not consider a small production output an automatic barrier to robot use. After all, Dairy Distillery produces a relatively small average of 1,500 bottles per day, but leaders there still found various processes to automate. Decision-makers should also set and track metrics to keep everyone motivated and working toward the same goals. These strategies increase the chances of successful robotics integrations.

Sriracha is leading the charge. According to statistics from Kerry Group, 20 million bottles of Sriracha were sold globally. By 2023, that number had doubled to 40 million.

“Heat lends itself to a lot of experiential flavours, like sensory. You’re engaging sensory notes for consumers in many different products,” says Soumya Nair, global consumer research and insights director at Kerry. “Heat has always been there, but lately, it has taken more meaning for consumers, such as adventure and tasting the provenance of the spice. It’s not just chilli, or it’s not just chilli with sweet, chilli with savoury; it is chilli from a specific part of the world, a specific country. It’s travel through your taste buds. Heat has some shock value that lends itself to categories like sweet. Chilli doesn’t mean just chilli anymore. Chilli does bring in a lot more of that drama and adventure travelling through your taste buds.”

Kerry Taste Charts for 2024 outline the rising spices and interesting new heat flavours. Specific to Canada, chilli pepper has become mainstream in the past five years, along with smoked flavour and black pepper. Additional essential flavours include curry, chipotle chilli, and jalapeño chilli. Some of the fastest-growing flavours in the last three years include peri-peri, smoked paprika, smoky barbecue, Korean barbecue, spicy buffalo, sweet chilli, Indian tikka masala, habanero chilli, and Jamaican jerk. The fastest growing in the last year are increasingly complex flavours, like Sichuan chilli, turmeric, adobo, Nashville heat, pepper lemon, chimichurri, hot honey, gochujang, and mole poblano.

What demographics are driving growth in hot and spicy food profiles? “Historically, we would have said younger people are more accepting of heat, but we’ve been saying younger people are more accepting for a decade. Those young people have become older, so the hot and spicy lovers are now more experienced,” says Nair. “Boomers in the older demographic, empty-nesters, recent empty-nesters, are also open to exploring flavours. They’re the ones who typically have the disposable income to travel around the world and be exposed to so many cultures and flavours. They’re much more ready to try those spices and heat when they return home.”

Firebelly Tea offers a fennel tea with anise and chilli. Photo © Firebelly Tea

New products

The spread category is enlivened with heat, especially honey, but what about various kinds of nut butter? Dumornay Delis (dD), the Montreal-based company owned by Jason Delis and Stanley Dumornay, entered the hot-spread market with their Manba line of peanut butter after the pair travelled to Haiti for volunteer humanitarian work. The Haitian-inspired peanut butter is made from ground, roasted peanuts. The peanut butter has a hot pepper kick from Scotch Bonnet pepper.

“Manba is a natural peanut butter that’s very creamy and can be drizzled on granola or ice cream, whereas hydrogenated peanut butter has to be scooped out of the jar,” Delis explains while sharing its use beyond bread.

Boccalino began as a restaurant in Canmore, Alta., until patrons started purchasing bottles of the house Caesar and Swiss dressings faster than the team could produce. The restaurant closed, and Boccalino Fine Foods began.

“The Chipotle Caesar is our Classic Caesar recipe turned up a notch with a slightly smoky and spicy addition of chipotle pepper and spices,” says Jamie Ayles, company owner and chef. “The Mango Jalapeno marries zesty, spicy, sour, sweet, and hot to compliment fresh and crisp produce or seafood.”

Snack company NaturSource has created a spicy version of kettle-cooked praline almonds with cayenne and habanero pepper. Photo © NaturSource

Over at NaturSource, based in St. Laurent, Que., the company’s Siracha-inspired Salad Topper Sriracha Crunch is made with dry-roasted nuts and seeds. These include almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, wheat noodles, and a spice blend with a little cane sugar for sweetness.

“Sometimes even the most delicious ingredients need that extra heat,” says Mitch Oberfield, executive vice president. “Don’t limit yourself to salads: snack straight out of the bag, add it to your next wrap or sprinkle on top of staples like rice and quinoa to turn ordinary into extraordinary.”

The brand recently launched Hot Maple Almonds.

“As snacking innovators, we challenged ourselves to put a NaturSource twist on your pantry staple,” says Oberfield.

The kettle-cooked praline almonds are a protein-rich snack given a spicy kick with the addition of cayenne and habanero pepper.

Two teas, Zest for Life and Internal Combustion, from Firebelly Tea, follow the trend for heat. Founded by David Segal, who co-founded DavidsTea and Shopify president Harvey Finkelstein, the Ottawa-based Firebelly Tea is on a mission to create “premium loose-leaf tea with real flavours and real ingredients from the finest global suppliers.” The company launched in 2022 after spending 18 months developing its range of over 20 teas.

“Zest for Life is a lemon ginger green tea with chilli spice. It packs some serious heat! We made this tea for spice lovers, and each ingredient has strong health benefits,” explains Segal. “Internal Combustion is a fennel tea with a sweet and spicy balance of anise and chilli.”

For sweet heat, Hummingbird, a pure craft bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturing company in Almonte, Ont., produces a bar called Mayan. The 68 per cent single-origin dark chocolate bar has a blend of spices for a subtle heat, including cinnamon, nutmeg, and chilli.

“We craft our chocolate from sustainably sourced cacao beans in our factory rather than purchasing bulk chocolate. Our single-origin bars have just three ingredients and highlight the natural flavours and terroir of each origin,” says co-owner Erica Gilmour. “We created our Mayan spice bar to honour the origins of cacao and chocolate. This recipe includes some of the traditional spices added to the cacao drink made by the Maya people of Central America.”

The Canadian consumer demands new tastes with complex flavours and various heat levels. Brands continue to offer innovative new food and beverage products to meet this demand.

The problem with ‎conventional egg decontamination processes, which use chemicals and heat, is that they can damage the egg cuticle and shell, which are ‎natural barriers to bacteria and help to maintain nutritional quality during storage.

The new cleaning method involves treating eggs using tiny water droplets sprayed with high-voltage electricity to decontaminate the shell. The researchers then used the CLS’s ultra-bright synchrotron light to obtain highly detailed 3D scans of the eggs.

The researchers found the new approach reduced the amount of E. coli and Salmonella bacteria on the eggs, but did not damage the cuticle and shell and preserved the food’s nutritional quality.

“We hope this new technique is added to the existing egg processing line to ensure thorough removal of pathogens from the egg surface,” said team member Mehdi Heydari, a postdoctoral fellow with USask’s College of Engineering. “This can help ensure the eggs on grocery store shelves are as safe to eat as possible.”

Heydari worked alongside other USask scientists, including principal investigator Lifeng Zhang and co-investigators Karen Schwean-Lardner and Shelley Kirychuk.

“Using this emerging, green technology would improve food safety while also lowering carbon dioxide emissions during processing,” he added.

The next step for this research will be to determine how to scale up this technology for large-scale operations.

This project was funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, and the Canadian Poultry Research Council.

Earlier this month, both Florida and Arizona banned the sale of cultivated meat and seafood, which is grown from animal cells. In Iowa, the governor signed a bill prohibiting schools from buying lab-grown meat. Federal lawmakers are also looking to restrict it.

It’s unclear how far these efforts will go. Some cultivated meat companies say they’re considering legal action, and some states – like Tennessee – shelved proposed bans after lawmakers argued they would restrict consumers’ choices.

Still, it’s a deflating end to a year that started with great optimism for the cultivated meat industry.

The U.S. approved the sale of lab-grown meat for the first time in June 2023, allowing two California startups, Good Meat and Upside Foods, to sell cultivated chicken. Two high-end U.S. restaurants briefly added the products to their menus. Some cultivated meat companies began expanding production. One of Good Meat’s products went on sale at a grocery in Singapore.

But before long, politicians were pumping the brakes. Lawmakers in seven U.S. states introduced legislation that would ban cultivated meat, according to Kim Tyrrell, an associate director with the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In the U.S. Senate, Republican Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Mike Round of South Dakota introduced a bill in January to prohibit the use of lab-grown meat in school lunch programs.

The backlash isn’t confined to the U.S. Italy banned the sale of lab-grown meat late last year. French lawmakers have also introduced a bill to ban it.

The pushback is happening even though lab-grown meat and seafood are far from reaching the market in a meaningful way because they’re so expensive to make. Cultivated products are grown in steel tanks using cells from a living animal, a fertilized egg or a storage bank. The cells are fed with special blends of water, sugar, fats and vitamins. Once they’ve grown, they’re formed into cutlets, nuggets and other shapes.

Companies have been heavily focused on scaling production to bring down costs and on winning government approval to sell their products.

Now, they’re also trying to figure out how to respond to the state bans. Upside Foods launched a Change.org petition, inviting supporters to “tell politicians to stop policing your plate.”

“It’s a shame they are closing the door before we even get out of the gate,” Tom Rossmeissl, the head of global marketing for Good Meat, said.

The company is considering its legal options, he said.

Backers of the bans say they want to protect farmers and consumers. Cultivated meat has only been around for about a decade, they say, and they’re concerned about its safety.

“Alabamians want to know what they are eating, and we have no idea what is in this stuff or how it will affect us,” Republican state Sen. Jack Williams, the sponsor of Alabama’s bill, wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “Meat comes from livestock raised by hardworking farmers and ranchers, not from a petri dish grown by scientists.”

But those within the cultivated meat industry say their products must meet rigorous government safety tests before going on sale. Their nascent industry isn’t trying to replace meat, they say, but figure out ways to feed the world’s growing need for protein.

Rossmeissl said the U.S. is currently leading the effort to develop cultivated meat and seafood, with 45 companies in the space, but that could change. In January, for example, an Israeli company received preliminary approval to sell the world’s first steaks made from cultivated beef. China is also investing heavily in lab-grown meat.

“It should be startling and concerning to Americans that we’re throwing up barriers to something that could be really important to our economy and food security,” he said.

State Sen. Jay Collins, a Republican who sponsored the Florida bill, noted that the legislation doesn’t ban research, just the manufacturing and sale of lab-grown meat. Collins said safety was his primary motivator, but he also wants to protect Florida agriculture.

“Let’s not be in a rush to replace something,” he said. “It’s a billion-dollar industry. We feed a ton of people across the country with our cattle, beef, pork, poultry and fish industries.”

Rossmeissl thinks the meat industry is trying to avoid what happened to the dairy industry after the introduction of plant-based alternatives like oat milk. Plant-based milk made up 15 per cent of U.S. milk sales last year; that’s up from around six per cent a decade ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Good Food Institute, an advocacy group for plant-based and cultivated products.

Meat producers did back the bans in Florida and Alabama. The leaders of those states’ cattlemen’s associations – which are advocacy groups for ranchers – stood next to both governors as they signed the bans into law.

But the picture is more complicated at the national level, where the meat industry doesn’t support bans on cultivated products. Some meat producers, like JBS Foods, are working on developing cultivated meat of their own.

“We do not support the route of banning these outright,” Sigrid Johannes, the director of government affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said. “We’re not afraid of competing with these products in the marketplace.”

The Meat Institute – which represents JBS, Tyson and other big meat companies – sent a letter to Alabama lawmakers warning them that the state’s ban was likely unconstitutional since federal law regulates meat processing and interstate commerce.

The founders of Wildtype, a San Francisco-based company that makes cultivated salmon, travelled to Florida and Alabama to testify against the bills but weren’t able to sway the outcome. They hope someone will challenge the bans in court but say it’s not realistic for their tiny company to take on that battle.

“We are David and on the other side of the aisle there is a gigantic Goliath,” Wildtype co-founder Arye Elfenbein said.

AP Writers Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Florida; Kimberly Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama; and Jonathan Mattise in Nashville contributed.

According to the paper, more than 40,000 temporary foreign workers arrived in Canada to work in the food manufacturing industry from the beginning of the millennium to early 2020. It found that half to four-fifths of the temporary foreign workers were employed in lower skilled positions such as general labourers. Approximately three in four of the workers were aged 25 to 44, with a majority of them being men.

Women accounted for over four in 10 temporary foreign workers in the industry from 2010 to 2019. The share of women working at higher skilled food manufacturing jobs, such as managers and technicians, rose from approximately one-quarter during the first decade of the millennium to one-third from 2010 to 2019.

The largest influx of temporary foreign workers in food manufacturing occurred from 2015 to 2019 when 15,750 arrived, just over three times more compared with the beginning of the millennium when 5,130 arrived (2000 to 2004). The largest share of temporary foreign workers employed at lower-skilled occupations in food manufacturing from 2000 to 2004 arrived from Central America, Africa and Eastern Europe.

From 2005 onward, however, the largest shares of temporary foreign workers were from Central America, Southeast Asia and East Asia.

Conversely, most temporary foreign workers in higher-skill occupations in the food industry arrived from more developed countries, such as those in Europe, which became the most important source region for these workers since the mid-2000s.

Most temporary foreign workers coming to Canada to work in food manufacturing ultimately move on to a job in another sector of the economy. Depending on the year of arrival, 46 to 78 per cent of temporary foreign workers in lower-skill occupations remained in the food manufacturing industry during their first year of landing, compared with approximately two-thirds (66 per cent) to three-quarters (73 per cent) of those in higher-skill occupations.

The likelihood of a temporary foreign worker remaining in the food manufacturing industry decreases over time. For example, for temporary foreign workers who landed from 2006 to 2010 to work in a low-skill occupation, over two-thirds (69 per cent) remained at the job one year later. This rate fell to just over half (52 per cent) three years after arrival and to 40 per cent five years after arrival.

Over the same period, over half (57 per cent) of temporary foreign workers in higher skilled occupations in food manufacturing remained in the industry one year after landing. This rate fell from 41 per cent three years after arriving to 34 per cent five years after arrival.

A decade after landing, almost two-thirds of temporary foreign workers in lower skilled occupations who arrived from 2005 to 2009 had become permanent residents (65 per cent), as had 59 per cent of those in higher-skilled positions.

The full paper, Temporary foreign workers with lower-skill occupations in the food manufacturing industry: Transition to permanent residency and industrial retention after transition, is available at StatsCanada.

In the ever-evolving landscape of automotive manufacturing, Nexeo Plastics is taking the lead in driving sustainability with our portfolio of sustainable materials that includes the latest innovations from our suppliers. We’re committed to revolutionizing the road, from encouraging customers to adopt bio-based plastics to helping customers meet their net zero carbon goals. Let’s discuss the details of our sustainable solutions and their pivotal role in shaping the future of mobility.

Embracing Sustainability in Response to Environmental Concerns

The automotive industry is at a crossroads as it tries to respond to global environmental concerns and to adopt more sustainable practices. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are now prioritizing the reduction of their carbon footprints through Extended Producer Responsibility (“EPR”) programs and seeking to achieve end-of-life recyclability goals. Although legislation mandating EPR’s is being developed specifically for EV battery producers and packaging manufacturers, we expect this trend to spread to other automotive segments.

Our sustainable solutions aim to cover the entire spectrum of goals our customers are striving to achieve. We want to help customers minimize reliance on traditional plastics, reduce their own and their customers’ carbon emissions, and, in general, help everyone mitigate their environmental impact. Carbon mass balance, Circularity, or a combination of both have become the chief philosophies in the industry, and Nexeo Plastics has product solutions for each approach.

Key Features and Benefits

Currently, the sustainable options that are typically most appealing to automotive OEMs include a variety of commodity and engineered bio-based plastics, derived either directly from renewable resources, such as sugarcane, or through the mass balance approach using ISCC PLUS certifications for existing products. Both methods are often ideal to ensure compatibility with existing manufacturing processes for seamless integration. And the result? A reduced carbon footprint throughout the vehicle’s life cycle, achievement of end-of-life recyclability goals, and enhanced brand image and consumer appeal through sustainability initiatives.

Nexeo Plastics’ Differentiating Features

What sets Nexeo Plastics apart? We have access to both emerging and existing sustainable material options from large suppliers in the industry. With global ISCC PLUS approved facilities, we can maintain chain of custody for certification from our global suppliers to our customers.

In conclusion, Nexeo Plastics is driving change by providing sustainable solutions that not only meet the needs of the present but also pave the way for a greener and more sustainable future in the mobility industry. We are happy to answer any questions you or your customer may have. Join us on this journey towards sustainable mobility!

Taylor Burnham
Product Manager for Healthcare and Sustainability
Nexeo Plastics

Christian M. Sodeikat
End Market Manager – Mobility
Nexeo Plastics

Q: Tell us a little bit about EFS-plastics
A: EFS-plastics is an Ontario-based plastics recycler that processes over 100 million pounds of post-consumer plastics every year. Our headquarters is in Listowel, Ont., and specializes in mixed rigid plastics processing.
We also run a U.S. plant in Hazleton, Pa., which specializes in flexible plastics. Our latest expansion brought us to Lethbridge, Alta., where we will start to produce high-quality resins for packaging applications in January 2025. This will be the first plant to produce a food grade PET product as well.

Q: Where do you source your materials?
A: We work directly with municipalities and waste management companies. Once the transition to EPR will be completed in Ontario by 2026 and Alberta in 2025, we will be working directly with the producers and producer responsibility organizations to process their materials. We hope to gain long-term supply agreements from this change that would guarantee us consistent supply and enable us to engineer our resins to the spec of the producer.

Q: What gets impacted in the process when using PCR?
A: Let me start by stating, that the latest studies from renowned environmental firms show that PCR from mechanical recycling has a far lower environmental footprint than any other competing technology currently available in the market. We are talking about a GHG emission saving of up to 50 per cent compared to chemical recycled resins and 70 per cent compared to virgin plastics. For this reason, mechanical recycled resin should be preferred over other recycled resins if suited for the product application.
We understand that our PCR has limitations in certain applications and most of our customers have a low tolerance for specs and gels, thus we are investing heavily in advanced sortation, washing, and extrusion. The industry is quite evolving, and we are seeing great success with high incorporating rates with those customers that invested in PCR by updating their conversion equipment.

Q: Where do you see demand coming from?
A: Recycled content legislation and EPR remain the main drivers for demand. We have very strong sales in the regulated market. However, since the 2025 voluntary brand goals are in sight, we saw a lot more traction in the first quarter of 2024. This traction is coming from brands as well as converters.

Q: How is recycling technology changing over time?
A: As every player in this industry understands quality concerns and market needs better and better, we are seeing improvements and innovation for every component of our process. Machinery that was state-of-the-art 10 years ago will most likely not meet the current standards anymore.

Q: Are investments in the latest technology necessary to remain competitive, or does older recycling equipment remain useful?
A: Yes, but there’s a catch. Recyclers need commitments on both ends of the supply chain to make the necessary investments. Long-term consistent supply and a set of consistent buyers would greatly de-risk these multimillion-dollar projects.
In some cases, old equipment can be retrofitted or refurbished, which makes those investments less expensive. At EFS-plastics, we try to reuse or repurpose as much of our old equipment as possible.

For example, with more expectations being placed on the reliability aspect of caps and closures, producers have an opportunity to step up and deliver the high-quality resins backed by robust technical support that modern manufacturers demand. We are required to understand the end-use demands – to be stronger, more durable, lighter weight, more flexible, clearer, heat or cold resistant, etc. – as well as the specifications for all production equipment in use, and how to optimize for maximum efficiency. In today’s market, in fact, the technical expertise on the producer’s end might be just as important as producing and delivering a quality and consistent product.

Customization, quality, consistency

Hyper-customization means finding and delivering the perfect product for our customer’s very specific needs: they may look alike to the casual eye, but we know that every package, every film, every cap and closure, every personal hygiene product requires proprietary customization with zero room for variance between shipments. We know every minute of downtime, extra cleaning, and re-runs is money off the bottom line. For example, Heartland’s H3003 biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film extrusion resin has been found to have an excellent processing window allowing for even faster production speeds.

Products that deliver low VOC, faster and better processing, along with enhanced down gauging capabilities, come with higher value. All polymers when melted emit some level of volatiles, but leading production technology and less additives can significantly reduce those volatiles. The less additives, the fewer things that can break down and create problems for the converter on their end. That’s why quality assurance is paramount to making technical recommendations with confidence. For example, Heartland Polymers has conducted trials at the Non-Wovens Institute – the world’s first accredited academic program for the interdisciplinary field of engineered fabrics – to test and verify product quality. Recent trials found the product runs exceptionally well, which translates to less equipment maintenance as well as the potential for improved processability.

Advancing sustainability through production technology

Smart technologies also enable technical support and QC teams to zero in on exact moments in time during the production process and to track shipments with real-time GPS, offering greatly enhanced capabilities and recording. These platforms allow teams on both ends to co-ordinate and respond faster than ever before to issues. The area of AI and digitization is a separate topic with massive implications, but suffice to say that data is power and from consumers all the way back to the producer, transparency creates common ground. Put simply, the more consumers understand how we make things, the better it is for everyone.

When it comes to sustainability, the plastics industry is no longer trying to keep up with consumer demands and expectations, we are leading new ground through research and the adoption of emerging technologies. Today, there can be no trade-off between performance and sustainability: manufacturers and their customers expect both. It is by integrating technical teams across producer and manufacturer that we gain the boots-on-the-ground reality of what is required, what is possible, and what optimizations are required on both ends. Through communication and a shared vision of what success looks like, we are delivering on products with increased recyclability, lighter weight, more durable, and extremely flexible.

David Marnalse is a Senior Account Manager at Heartland Polymers. With over 25 years in the industry, he is committed to delivering a new and more efficient customer experience to help industry meet the challenges of modern production.

Julio Muzquiz is the Technical Services Supervisor at Heartland Polymers. He brings unparalleled technical expertise to Heartland backed by more than 25 years of providing polyolefins technical support for High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE), and Polypropylene (PP) resins.

“Formulations for baked goods can be complex. When the goal is to make a baked good with fewer ingredient, it’s important to understand how the ingredients work together and the process necessary to achieve the product’s desired taste, texture, and colour,” said Jane Dummer, registered dietitian, consultant and a Bakers Journal columnist.

The ultimate goal when producing a baked good with limited ingredients is being able to maintain the taste and texture that consumers crave.

“Taste and texture are critically important for bakery products for acceptance by consumers who are looking for healthier products but are not inclined to give up their desire for ‘healthy indulgence.’ Thus, formulators need to make sure that the solutions they provide to improve nutritional profiles meet customer expectations,” said Kyle Krause, Beneo regional product manager, functional fibres and carbohydrates, North America.

Quality over quantity

It is not uncommon to flip over a packaged good to review the ingredients and find a handful of unpronounceable ingredients listed. Often, these long words are shelf stabilizers, texturizers and preservatives used to maintain the product so consumers can enjoy a tasty and safe treat. Given consumers are opting for healthy food without preservatives, it’s valuable to dig into how to manufacture delicious baked goods with limited ingredients.

“Simple and few ingredients could deliver a flavourful, nutritious product with optimal texture,” said Katie Thomas, corporate communications manager, Mondelez Canada. “We always start with our consumers and a back-to-basics approach where you think about how to achieve your goal using the fewest ingredients, like you would in your own kitchen.”

Délices Sublimes produces dry mixes of muffins, cookies, brownies, cake, and energy balls that are naturally sweetened. Photo © Délices Sublimes

Bake profile

Thomas explained that the process of creating a recipe with fewer ingredients boils down to simple ingredients and augmenting recipes to ultimately deliver one that fulfils consumer expectations.

“When developing products with limited ingredients, bake profile can be used to decrease the amount of shelf stabilizers needed,” said Thomas.

Bake profile, also known as thermal profiling, is a baking process for optimization and control. A thermal profile helps ensure food safety and regulatory compliance. It also helps improve product texture, quality, and shelf life by monitoring aspects like yeast kill, bake out zone, product temperature arrival and colour development.

Ease risk of errors

When working with fewer ingredients, it is easier to correct a misstep, thanks to the simple nature of the baked good.

“If a bakery is creating a baked good from scratch, the positive thing about fewer ingredients is that if one ingredient is improperly scaled and added at the wrong time, it is easier to problem solve that formulation compared to a formulation with many ingredients,” said Dummer. “Simplified blends and mixes of dry ingredients can ease the on-site labour and risk of errors, as bakeries reduce the total ingredients in their products and create new ones.”

Julie Barbeau Capruciu, ND, president of Délices Sublimes, believes in using basic ingredients that naturally have long shelf lives. Photo © Délices Sublimes

Dry mixes

A popular growing-alternative is direct-to-consumer dry mixes made for baking at home. Companies such as Second Spring Foods in Seaforth, Ont., create options like organic banana bread mix with no additives, artificial flavours, or preservatives.

“It’s a question of using ingredients that have a long and natural shelf stable life to start with,” said Julie Barbeau Capruciu ND, president of Délices Sublimes, a small business that produces dry mixes of muffins, cookies, brownies, cake, and energy balls that are naturally sweetened.

Capruciu is a naturopath by training and passionate about nutritious food. When she was pregnant with her third child, she developed pregnancy diabetes. She then decided to sweeten snacks for her and her family by adding fruit and vegetable purees in addition to using organic whole grains, naturally rich in protein and fibre.

“I am trying to promote real food with basic ingredients that people all know,” said Capruciu.

Vegan, gluten free and reduced sugar

For vegan options, breads are relatively straightforward to create using only plant-based ingredients, however, baked goods are often reliant on eggs and dairy ingredients like butter, and this can be more complex, explained Dummer.

“There have been helpful advancements with pulse ingredients over the past five years. For example, the industry has seen positive developments in egg replacers available. As a result, improved ingredients and ingredient technology can remove the trial-and-error testing for the processor. Gluten-free ingredients have seen improvements as well. Specifically, when it comes to gluten-free flour options available (for example, sorghum) and flour mixes and how these flours and mixes work with fewer ingredients to achieve the anticipated textures and tastes, while boosting the nutrition in gluten-free bread or baked goods,” said Dummer.

Beneo offers a prebiotic chicory root fibre, oligofructose, which is a soluble fibre and can be incorporated into a variety of baked goods. It can increase fibre content while allowing manufacturers to reduce the sugar or fat content of their products.

“Thanks to the technical properties of chicory root fibre, producers can develop products without compromising on taste and texture. This soluble fibre can stabilize water into a creamy structure, mimicking fat, important for fillings,” said Krause. “Additionally, the humectant properties of oligofructose allow for moisture retention in baked goods like muffins and cakes while also delivering sugar-like flavour and mouthfeel.”

Chicory root fibre also allows for easy processing without changing production processes. At only 2 kcal/g chicory root fibre enables food manufacturers to produce reduced-calorie and fibre-enriched versions of traditionally indulgent baked goods and snacks such as cereal bars, baked goods, and fillings.

Keep it simple

Ultimately, if the goal is to produce a baked good with fewer ingredients and maintain a flavourful profile—the standard is, use simple and quality ingredients.

When unusual flours and ingredients enter the mix, it can be counterintuitive as some flours require a much more rigorous processing cycle. While crafting baked goods with limited ingredients requires a thoughtful approach that balances flavour, texture, and nutritional aspects, there is no need to reinvent the wheel.

Today, many organizations are trying to change the way Canadians think of seal meat. For one, Canadian Seal Products (vendors of seal oil, meat, and fur), is promoting the industry with the help of a digital and social media campaign entitled, “Good for you. Good for the environment,” that encourages Canadians to consider the benefits of seal products.

One of the goals of this campaign is to put seal meat back on the menu here in Canada. Currently, seal meat is only available in some parts of the country, and few consumers know how to cook it or turn it into a meal.

In Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, seal meat processing companies are producing seal burger patties, sausages, pepperettes, and smoked flipper. Photo © Carino

“This is a very dark meat,” explains Romy Vaugeois, program manager at Canadian Seal Products. “When people see it for the first time in a grocery store, and they’ve never tried it, it’s hard for them to want to buy it.”

The solution, Vaugeois explains, is to promote seal meat with restaurant owners, because consumers are more likely to want to try something new when dining out. “Seal meat is more readily available in restaurants in Quebec, where it has been served for many years, often as an appetizer, so people can try it,” she adds. “It’s especially popular with restaurants that like to work with local ingredients.”

Seal meat is also available in some fish markets, but only seasonally. “A number of distributors are already established in Quebec,” Vaugeois explains, “so restaurants can call distributors directly to place their orders.”

Seal meat producers have an uphill battle when it comes to creating widespread consumer acceptance for a rare wild game meat. Photo © Benoit Lenglet

Seal meat producers

According to Vaugeois, seal meat is currently being produced by five Canadian companies, all located in Newfoundland or Quebec. These include Ár n-oileán Resources, Boucherie Côte-à-côte (only sell within Quebec), Carino Processing, Mi’kmaq Commercial Fisheries, and Reconseal Inuksiuti (Indigenous owned, they provide seal meat mostly to Inuit communities in Ottawa and Montreal).

Although seal meat is available in a growing number of restaurants and retailers within Quebec, it’s more difficult to find in other provinces. The best way to purchase seal meat as a distributor in regions other than Quebec is to contact one of the manufacturers listed above.

Seal meat is available as either a loin or a flipper. “The loin is much easier to cook,” Vaugeois says. “It’s like wild game meat, and it has a slight iodine taste, so you don’t want to overcook it.” The flipper, on the other hand, is a tough muscle, and Vaugeois recommends using it in stews and soups where it can be cooked for longer periods of time. Seal meat is also available in processed forms, including seal burger patties, sausages, pepperettes, smoked flipper and more.

The loin is offered in two versions, adult and veal. According to Vaugeois, who says she has eaten lots of seal meat, the veal tastes a lot like beef. “You would barely be able to tell the difference, if it’s processed properly,” she says. The adult loin, on the other hand, because it’s a bit older, tends to be more gamey, and Vaugeois compares the taste to moose.

Seal loin meat can be turned into ground meat, added to a traditional spaghetti recipe, or used to make burgers and sausages. Photo © Les Iles en Ville

Preparing seal meat for sale is complex and requires expertise and know-how. “The meat has to be placed in seawater for more than 24 hours for the blood to drain,” she explains. “You also have to remove the fat because it will oxidize and give you a fishy taste.”

Fortunately, seal meat producers are more than happy to process the meat properly and remove all the fat before shipping the various cuts to their customers.

Once delivered, the loin can be prepared the same way one would cook filet mignon, Vaugeois explains. “You can also turn it into ground meat, put it in your traditional spaghetti recipe, or make burgers or sausages,” she adds. “It’s similar to preparing other types of meat.”

Historically, seal meat wasn’t always consumed cooked. “The Inuit eat it raw,” Vaugeois says. “They also put it in soups, and they have their own recipes.”

Photo © Caribou Gourmand

Multimillion dollar market

Prior to the 1987 ban on harvesting seal pups, seal meat was big business. It’s still worth millions of dollars annually today, Vaugeois explains, but mostly because of the value of the fur, and the seal oil, which is a great source of Omega-3 oils.

The actual edible part of the animal (loin and flippers) is only a small fraction of the total weight of each seal. “The meat only represents about five or six per cent of the total weight of the animal,” Vaugeois explains. “Most of the weight is the fat and the fur.”

Retail cost for the loin (veal or adult) is between $70 and $80/kg, and Vaugeois says that it’s very lean meat with very little fat and no bones. The flippers are much more affordable, and retail for about $40/kg.

While organizations like Canadian Seal Products are eager to boost sales of seal products, some communities simply couldn’t live without it. “For many who live in the north,” Vaugeois  explains, “it’s a matter of food security. In Nunavut, Labrador, and other northern countries like Greenland, importing proteins like pork and poultry is much less sustainable, and much more expensive than seal meat.”

In Canada’s north, she adds, where store-bought meat is costly, a single seal can provide the equivalent of $200 worth of meat, or more, to a family, while providing a much higher nutritional value.

A study conducted in 2012 estimates that there were over 40,000 seals harvested per year in Nunavut, and that the replacement food value of seal meat was worth approximately $5 million. At the time, seal skin products were worth an additional $1 million to the arts and crafts sector of the Nunavut economy.

Photo © Chinched Bistro

Benefits of seal meat

Packed with minerals and vitamins, low in fat and high in healthy Omega-3 oils, seal meat is Canada’s superfood, according to Vaugeois. “It’s also the only wild game meat that can be legally sold throughout Canada,” she adds.

When you consider the health benefits of seal meat, as well as the benefits to local economies in northern parts of Canada, it’s clear that this is an important industry and that there’s potential for growth.

Even so, seal meat producers have an uphill battle as they endeavour to change popular opinion. “We are still dealing with pushback,” Vaugeois admits, “but we see great improvement from a decade ago. Due to all the propaganda from animal activists and all the trade restrictions and misinformation arising from this propaganda, it will take us several years to rebuild the seal industry.”

First up, Canadian financial institutions and banks. However, they can be risk adverse especially for early stage food and beverage companies. Another option is to access government funding. There are a variety of government funding programs available for Canadian food and beverage start-ups. A few mentions are the AgriInnovate program, Canadian Food Innovation Network, Natural Products Canada, Protein Industries Canada, and the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program for small and medium-sized businesses.

Plus, there are numerous accelerator and incubator programs across the country. Mike McNeil, vice president, Venturepark Labs, emphasizes the importance of supporting Canadian entrepreneurs. “For too long, we’ve relied on shipping our raw ingredients outside our borders and repurchasing those products after they are commercialized. We must support entrepreneurs here in Canada by opening doors for them and building a large community to guide them on their journey,” he says.

What about venture capitalists and private investors? Is there an investing landscape for these food and beverage innovators to access? Omid McDonald, founder, Dairy Distillery, explains, “The money is out there. I raised money for my previous software companies, and I did not find raising money for a food and beverage company any more difficult. I found it was easier to get bank financing when I focused on the hard assets needed for a food and beverage business. There are many government support programs and venture capitalists (VCs) focused on food and beverages. I was fortunate to connect with AgCapital Canada that invests in promising Canadian agritech companies. In 2023, we pitched our story on CBC’s Dragons’ Den and attracted the attention of Manjit Minhas. We’re in discussions with Manjit’s team and have already started doing business together. Don’t be shy to tell your story. Investors are looking for both great financial returns and a good story to tell their friends.”

The Dairy Distillery team pitching their Vodkow product on Dragons’ Den. Photo © Dairy Distillery

Wallace Wong (The SixPackChef), co-founder, Spatula, describes, “My experience with investors and funding opportunities in Canada is that the community is small, concentrated, and exciting. It reminds me a lot of the restaurant industry; everyone is in the loop with things, and everyone is trying to improve and push the community. For example, one thing I’ve noticed is that people are  always looking for opportunities.  Canada  is  home to so many talented and incredible founders but even more so, hustlers! I look at this as an amazing aspect because it shows excitement, growth, diversity, and activity. My co-founder Ian Weng does a great job in continuously staying part of the community, driving conversations and being in tune with the VC environment.”

Ian Weng, CEO, Spatula, highlights, “In 2023, the Spatula team slayed the Dragons on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, receiving investment offers from all five Dragons. Our innovative flash-frozen meal kits wowed the Dragons. After receiving escalating bids, our team ultimately accepted a $500,000 (for 10 per cent equity) deal with our dream Dragon, Arlene Dickinson. One of the goals of this investment is to expand across Canada and into large box grocery retailers.”

Dairy Distillery produces Vodkow, an alcoholic beverage manufactured using upcycled milk permeate. Photo © Dairy Distillery

Accessing investment

At the beginning, it takes dedication, hard work, and a continuous daily effort to raise funds for a new business. This can be difficult when you need to be working in the business simultaneously. Some food and beverage start-ups are finding success accessing investment outside of Canada. Jake Karls, co-founder, Mid-Day Squares, describes his experience, as Canadian banks and VCs were being on the risk adverse side when it came to investing in homegrown innovative, scalable food and beverage companies.

“Canada has incubators, government programs with process and tools, however, we found a definite risk adverse mindset and very little in the way of funding for early stage food and beverage companies. Mid-Day Squares was rejected many times as too risky, too early with the common phrase ‘wait until you are profitable’. Currently 80 per cent of our funding is coming from outside of Canada and 20 per cent of funding is coming from Canadian VCs and angel operators,” he shares.

How can Canadian investments for food and beverage companies be encouraged and increased? Karls recommends, “A shift in mind-set to take a risk and invest in early stage companies. More private entrepreneurs need to reinvest and take a risk on start-ups; to raise awareness and celebrate successful entrepreneurs in Canada. One of our goals is to encourage a culture of entrepreneurism in Canada in the CPG space. And eventually, we will reinvest in Canadian early stage food and beverage companies.”

McDonald suggests, “I have met a lot of people who want to support their local food and beverage start-up but are not aware of the tax advantages of investing in them. A guide explaining the investor tax advantage would be helpful. Also, I found a lack of networking events in food and beverage sector compared to high-tech. Networking events that connect investors with directly to companies seeking funds. These events could be held alongside local experiences such as fairs and festivals to attract potential investment.”

Wong explains, “One opportunity for Canadian food and beverage companies accessing local funding and investors is to recognize the foreign recognition of the ‘Canadian brand – Made in Canada’ is still on the uprise and strong. As a result, the demand for Canadian products, especially items that are consumable, are on the rise. The ability to not only create a domestic product for Canadian consumers, but also to be able to market to foreign demographics will help in growth and in parallel show exciting promise and value to potential investors.”

The time is now to encourage a Canadian culture of food and beverage entrepreneurs and foster a community of investors for those entrepreneurs meeting the evolving trends and needs of consumers domestically and internationally.

“My dad had a vision that’s reflected in our company name,” said Alexandre Therrien, owner, president, and CEO of Canabec. “He saw a Quebec company that supplies Canada with game meats. It’s been a long time coming but we’re finally there.”

From the first few carcasses of red deer that his father and company founder Laurier Therrien initially imported from New Zealand in 1987, Canabec today processes around 15,000 kg a week of mostly game meat at its plant in an industrial park in Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, a village just west of Quebec City.

Over the years, the company has developed a range of specialty meat products for high-end restaurant chefs across Quebec and, increasingly, for everyday consumers across Canada. Those products range from fresh and frozen pre-cut meats and precooked meals to confits, terrines, and deli. In addition to conventional meat and poultry protein, Canabec uses meat from a dozen exotic farm and game animals to make its products. Those species range from mostly Canadian-supplied duck, goose, rabbit, bison, elk, wild boar, guinea fowl and ostrich to imported kangaroo from Australia.

Canabec has also developed several retail products over the past 15 years that are carried by all major food store chains and specialty meat shops across Quebec. Its two best-selling items are raw Chinese fondue meats and pre-cooked confit duck legs, which are sold two to a box.

“I’m very happy and super excited by how things are working out for us these days,” said Therrien. “We’ve worked hard to develop new products and to diversify our offering. It’s helped us stand out in what is a very competitive but growing meat protein niche market.”

That market didn’t exist when Therrien’s father first imagined the culinary and commercial possibilities of wild game.

Alexandre Therrien.

Beginnings

Born and raised in the asbestos mining town of Thetford Mines, a 90-minute drive south of Quebec City, Laurier trained and worked as a chef in Montreal and Europe in the 1970s. He struck out on his own in 1978 when he and wife, Chantale Miclette, opened La Tanière, a gourmet restaurant that served haute cuisine dishes made with wild game deer, elk and seal on a remote rural road in Cap-Rouge, a 5-minute drive from Canabec’s current location.

“Dad ran the kitchen, mom handled the front,” said Therrien, who was only one when his La Tanière opened. Both he and his younger brother Frédéric worked in the business growing up, helping in the kitchen, bussing tables and doing whatever their parents needed. The same thing happened when their father created Canabec and started importing red deer carcasses from New Zealand. Initially, the business was run out of a small addition at the back of the restaurant with a C1 meat cutting certification where meat was prepared, packaged, and shipped to high-end eateries and speciality meat shops. As demand grew, Laurier moved Canabec into a 5000-sf facility in the Quebec City neighbourhood of Saint-Émile.

“Dad’s goal was to make more value-added products and cuts for his customers,” said Therrien. “The added space allowed him to diversify our game offering and expand our product lines.”

Game additions included quail, pheasant, and caribou from Northern Quebec. Canabec also developed several high-end deli products like terrines, mousses, and duck rillettes. It also began selling fresh cuts of red deer, bison, caribou and wild boar.

“Dad developed the market in Quebec City first,” said Therrien. “Then he went all across the province by adding a sales rep and a delivery truck.”

Canabec processes fresh and frozen pre-cut meats and precooked meals to confits, terrines, and deli.

With business booming, Laurier sold La Tanière in 2001 to focus on Canabec. The following year, however, Laurier suffered a heart attack at the age 50 and had to wind down his business  activities. Therrien stepped up and took on more responsibilities at Canabec. At that time, the business focused on foodservice. Slowly, Canabec started to manufacture products for the grocery sector, which is challenging for game meat. They’re more expensive than other meats.

“Price point is the key,” said Therrien. “That’s why we decided to diversify by adding cheaper protein like pork to some of our products.”

Canabec processes around 15,000 kg a week of game meat at its plant in Quebec. Photo © Canabec

Retail debut

The company’s first grocery store product was sliced terrine. It went on sale in Quebec Sobeys stores in 2008. A few years later Canabec launched its first line of thinly sliced game meat for Chinese fondue or Chinese hot pot, a popular French-Canadian meal.

“I saw it as an opportunity and a way to make game meat more accessible to consumers,” said Therrien. “We developed some techniques that allowed us to thinly slice frozen game meats at –2 C. Any colder than that it flakes. Game meat is very lean. It has to be processed quickly to retain its original colour, texture and taste.”

Canabec’s Chinese fondue meats proved to be a hit with Quebec consumers. “It’s been one of our biggest successes,” said Therrien. In 2017, he moved the company to the 50,000-sf plant it now calls home.

The new plant carries many new machines and features that Therrien says have allowed the company and its 82 employees to make productivity gains in everything from processing, logistics and distribution to butchering, cuts and on-site cooking. New and automated equipment include three thermo former vacuum packaging machines, several cooking ovens, steam cooking equipment, kettles as well as vapour tumblers to thaw frozen meat. Other key pieces include a meat grinder, a boxing machine, and a package labeller.

In 2020, Canabec acquired the federal meat processing license, which brought about big changes at the company.

“It’s created a different culture,” said Therrien. “Before that we were more focused on taste profiles and customer service, notably on developing complex recipes and products to please our restaurant chef clients. We were not thinking like a food manufacturing company. We had to simplify, rationalize and streamline the process to make things less complicated and reach higher volumes. Now, security is the No. 1 issue in our manufacturing process. We needed to rethink our recipes and ingredients and processes in order to be compliant and to control or eliminate allergens like pistachios in duck confit.”

He said the company’s bestselling item in recent years has been Confit Duck Legs which, like guinea fowl, are cooked in duck fat in sealed bags and sold two to a box. Retail products now account for 75 per cent of company sales.

“Every meat has a different reaction to heat and different cooking times; it takes time and experience to get it just right,” said Therrien. “Our competitive advantage comes from our knowledge and experience with game meats and the vacuum cooking process. We plan to continue focusing on the retail side of the business. But we also do some private label. I’d like to increase that business by 15 to 20 per cent in the next two or three years.”

According to the Government of Canada’s website, Canadians throw away over 3 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, while only nine per cent is recycled. How can manufacturers balance food safety concerns with the government mandate for phasing out plastic food packaging?

In a statement, Food and Beverage Canada (FBC) said, “While we align with the government’s objectives in plastic waste reduction, we have reservations about the potential unintended consequences stemming from the current approach.”

“We all agree that we should be cutting back on the use of plastics,” says Kristina Farrell, CEO, FBC. “There are plastic alternatives for some packaged goods and not others. There are no alternatives for plastic film to safely package meats. The current plastic packaging, which includes transparent multilayer packaging, enables consumers to inspect products for things such as quality and cut. The material itself has low gas permeability, which promotes extended shelf life. Right now there is no viable alternative to this packaging material. Additionally, the blood and tissue often remaining on the packaging after its disposal would still make it unrecyclable, regardless of whether the material itself was more environmentally friendly.”

“There are multiple ways to address plastic packaging without eradicating it completely. We need to take a systemized approach,” says Martin Gooch, CEO of Value Chain Management International. “We’ve taken decades to be right where we are, and it’s been allowed to evolve. Things have changed since the 1950s and 60s when produce was sold loose. It was available only seasonally. You only could buy strawberries in summer. Salads didn’t come in a convenience bag. Families shopped more than once a week, so shelf life was less of an issue. Today, there are no standardized specifications when it comes to plastic packaging. It’s the system that needs to be changed.”

At this point, there are no alternatives for plastic film to safely package meat. Photo © Алексей Филатов / Adobe Stock

Possible solutions

Plastic has been considered a low-value product, and to create perceived value, more complexity has been added to plastic packaging than necessary. This has had repercussions. Gooch gives an example by saying, “PET [polyethylene terephthalate] is a recyclable plastic. Let’s say you produce a PET water bottle. Once a PVC [polyvinylidene chloride] cap is placed on top, it limits its recyclability.”

One solution Gooch points to is the standardization of plastic polymers. “This could mean using fewer polymers or making multi-layer laminates out of the same polymers. Up to this point,  there has been no incentive for this to be done. I am fully in support of reducing plastics; it just has to be achieved in a well-thought-out way.”

The Canada Plastics Pact (CPP) is tackling plastic pollution with plastic-related solutions. “There isn’t one solution but a portfolio of solutions. Packaging for food is a challenge. It requires technical solutions that maintain product integrity, shelf life, and product food safety. Brands use packaging to communicate their consumer proposition,” says Cher Mereweather, managing director, CPP. “One really important element is what happens to the plastic after we are done with it. Today, we are focused on the big challenges that companies cannot achieve on their own.”

The Golden Design Rules were created to facilitate less plastic packaging, while using more easier-to-recycle plastic for packaging. Photo © weyo / Adobe Stock

Mereweather points to the Golden Design Rules. These rules for plastic packaging were developed by Consumer Goods Forum’s Coalition for Action on Plastic Waste, for which Galen Weston is the co-chair, along with Alexis Perakis-Valat, president, Consumer Products Division, L’Oreal.

The nine Golden Design Rules were established to facilitate less plastic packaging, while also using more plastic packaging that is easier to recycle by 2025. This includes increasing the value of PET recycling; PET thermoformed trays and other PET thermoformed, as well as flexible consumer packaging, such as the packaging for frozen produce, and rigid HDPE (high-density polyethylene) and PP (polypropylene) used for products such as laundry soap and dairy tubs.

Another rule involves the removal of problematic elements such as PVC or PVDC (polyvinylidene dichloride), which can disrupt recycling in some types of packaging. The plastic film used in vegetables and meat trays are usually manufactured from PVC or PVDC. Other elements under this umbrella include undetectable carbon black, EPS (expanded polystyrene), PS (polystyrene), PETG (polyethylene terephthalate glycol), and oxo-degradable plastics.

Reducing plastic waste involves rules governing the elimination of excess packaging headspace, with a stipulation of a 30 per cent maximum guideline, the reduction of overwraps, and reduced virgin plastic use in B2B plastic packaging. Finally, to guide consumers, there is a packaging rule to include recycling or reuse instructions on all consumer plastic packaging.

Omnia Packaging, the Canadian-based industrial plant owned by Italy’s Gruppo Sunino, operates two production divisions. One is for plastic, producing only 100 per cent recyclable packaging, and the other is for paper.

“We are different because our plastic food packaging is made with PP,” explains Monica Viazzo, who represents Omnia Packaging, in business development and marketing. “This is the purest polymer and the most recyclable one. We use 27 per cent less plastic in each tub we produce. This still guarantees the same shelf life for food. Additionally, we only use mould labelling using a monolayer of PP. This creates a clean, fully recyclable container.”

The research and development team at Omnia Packaging continues to develop moulds to support various packaging solutions that food and beverage manufacturers require, such as for ready-made meals, soups, sauces, dips, and cheese.

Solutions abound for keeping foods safe while reducing and recycling plastic. It will be interesting to see how food and beverage manufacturers as well as governments tackle the plastic problem.

La Presserie specializes in premium plant-based food and beverage products, such as cold-pressed frozen juice and cocktail mixers, prepared foods, salad dressings, and soups, made using a proprietary flash-freeze technology. The company has won several awards, such as the 2021 Local Innovation Award from Sobeys for their dressings; a 2022 SIAL Innovation Award for cold-pressed vinaigrettes; a 2023 Best Condiment Award from Grocery Innovations Canada for plant-based miso dip cups; and a 2023 SIAL Innovation Award for their cold-pressed cocktail mixers.

Zarovinsky was motivated to start La Presserie because of an innate curiosity about plant-based foods as well as a desire to do something different from what he achieved at Tiffany Gate Foods. Since he grew up in a family that ate a lot of fruits, vegetables, and grains, and meat consumption was limited to special occasions, Zarovinsky had an appreciation for these ‘gifts’ of nature. Zarovinsky was also aware that the plant-based movement has a bad reputation in Canada.

“People think plant-based food is not tasty or good and limiting,” he said.

Zarovinsky wanted to experiment with plant-based foods and see how far he can go with things that are underutilized in that sector without compromising on taste.

Taste is key

On several occasions during our interview, Zarovinsky stressed that his only goal is to offer consumers delicious food, as evident by the company’s tag line of “délicieux” (delicious in French). Everything else about the product—be it health claims, vegan, or plant-based—is incidental.

“When a product is declared to be plant-based or vegan, people automatically assume the food to be of a certain type. I don’t like that,” he said, as there’s a huge pool of consumers who simply want great tasting food regardless of labels.

La Presserie earned a 2023 SIAL Innovation Award for its cold-pressed cocktail mixers.

A whole new world

After having decided on the type of product to make, which initially was cold-pressed juices, the biggest challenge, for La Presserie, was shelf life.

“Our previous company was designed to do chilled food with short shelf lives. This brought about logistical challenges. We did not know until late afternoon what we’re going to make tomorrow because the shelf life was literally days. We couldn’t make it in advance. Trying to use very short shelf-life raw materials to produce very short shelf-life finished goods was a logistical nightmare. When I started this company, I decided we cannot do this. We’re going to do frozen,” he explained.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, prepared frozen foods were perceived as quick-fix meals. One didn’t expect freezer foods to taste good or be healthy; it was a convenient way to satiate hunger.

In Zarovinsky’s opinion, frozen foods also “destroyed family dinners,” as people ate at their convenience. In many traditions, food is a way of socializing. It’s a family affair, as described by Zarovinsky. People come together to cook, share, argue as well as enjoy each other’s company. With quick-fix frozen meals, there was no longer a need for families to eat or prep meals together, he added.

“Further, frozen food is cooked at least three times. First, it has to be cooked, then frozen, which is a form of cooking, and the third time you cook it when you heat it. Now, who wants to eat food that’s been cooked three times. We looked at all this and we decided we’re going to do it differently,” he explained.

La Presserie’s main goal is to offer consumers delicious juices. Everything else, be it health claims, vegan, or plant-based, is purely incidental.

Cold means 4C or less

At La Presserie, the cold-pressed juices and smoothies from fruits and vegetables are flash-frozen immediately to avoid deterioration. They don’t add any chemicals nor take out anything from the juices.

“When temperatures are raised, the very volatile components that create flavour, aroma, taste, and freshness in juices, enzymes, and vitamins don’t survive,” he explained. Hence, the juices are frozen immediately. The company has also been able to extract juices out of hard raw materials like spinach and ginger.

While the pandemic complicated things for young companies like La Presserie, the timing couldn’t have been better to launch a frozen product. Eager to avoid infections, consumers bought frozen foods to limit store visits.

La Presserie’s beverages are sold in small 213-ml bottles that are an easy addition to lunch boxes.

In fall 2023, La Presserie debuted four artisanal Asian soups.

Marching ahead

Once the technology and process were perfected with juices, La Presserie introduced a line of cold-pressed and creamy salad dressings and dips at SIAL Canada in 2022. The vinaigrette-based dressings are made using cold-pressed juices and fresh herbs; they’re sold frozen. The creamy dressings, on the other hand, are sold refrigerated, as they have plant-based mayonnaise and the starch in the creamy dressings is cooked.

Once again, Zarovinsky stressed that while these “dressings are low-calorie, we don’t advertise them as such. People can review the nutritional facts table and determine for themselves.”

He added, “We do not make any health claims because I don’t believe we can prove it scientifically. There’s nothing negative about fruits and vegetables. They can’t hurt you. To say that you have to eat it because it’s healthy is counterproductive. Most of the time healthy food doesn’t taste good. What we’re saying is, our food is delicious and happens to be healthy. We want to serve consumer’s needs. The most important thing about our food is that it’s delicious. Surprisingly, when we got into this business of plant-based, cold-pressed foods, everybody in that business was touting the ‘healthy’ aspects of their products. I believe that people come back to the same food because they like the taste… Delicious is what we aim for. We want them to fall in love with what they eat, and make sure that it is safe for them to eat and is enjoyable. If that happens, I did my job.”

A start-up mindset

La Presserie’s strength is product development. Within three years, the company has launched seven product lines. Besides juices and smoothies, salad dressings and dips, the company introduced premium frozen cold-pressed cocktail mixers in 2022. These mixers are made with raw, cold-pressed fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

In fall 2023, La Presserie entered the frozen prepared food category with a line of four Asian soups. The packaging of these meal-sized soups is unique. Unlike many frozen foods, the skin-film packaging allows you to see the actual product. I got to taste the Tom Yum Thai-style Lemongrass Soup during my plant visit. It was earthy and fresh, an unlikely (one might say) description of a frozen food product. To ensure the food isn’t overcooked by the time it reaches our dinner tables, most of the vegetables in the soup are packed raw. They get steam-cooked in the microwave for the first time when you heat it. Zarovinsky added that each broth was specifically designed for the product with respect to the country of origin.

“Pasta is custom-made because it must behave in a specific way; it has to survive freezing and reheating. A lot of food engineering and design has gone into” these soups, he explained.

For years, frozen food has been considered not as good as fresh produce. Nothing could be further from the truth. If done properly, frozen food can be as fresh as new produce. Plus, it can reduce waste. It takes a lot of skill to create frozen food, though, as not every food or ingredient can be frozen. With meticulous work, diligent R&D, and laser-eyed focus on serving delicious foods, La Presserie is redefining the frozen food aisle with its premium, hi-quality products.

With approximately one billion domestic pets globally, how these animals are nourished is increasingly of concern to those who see their companions as a member of the family. Further, pets and humans share a supply of farmed animal proteins, and significant numbers of farmed animal products not eaten by humans go into pet foods. While there is growing diversity in human plant-based food offerings, there is a concurrent trend in pet foods to find healthier and more sustainable ways to feed our furry friends. For example, as recently as 2016, in the E.U., insect-derived proteins were allowed to be used in companion animal feed and insect-based pet foods.

Big Country Raw uses a combination of meats from turkey, lamb, and beef to salmon in pet food products. Photo © Big Country Raw

Innovation in pet food

Meanwhile, in Canada, companies like Snuf are producing a range of pet foods containing insect protein (specifically, black soldier fly protein, which is claimed to be hypoallergenic), chamomile and ashwagandha. Snuf labels their product as containing ancient grains, hypoallergenic, all natural, and planet friendly. Another example would be California-based Noochies, which uses nutritional yeast as the primary ingredient in its line of freeze-dried pet foods. Nutritional yeast is an all-natural product made by the process of culturing, which creates plentiful, bioavailable protein and B vitamins. Arguably, foods being provided to companion animals are becoming increasingly like what humans eat.

Further to the customization and premium orientation of new pet foods, owners are also looking for functional ingredients that can address or highlight functions for the unique age, breed, size, and specific health condition of their dog or cat, such as joint health, digestive health, or weight management. Healthy ingredients might include probiotics, prebiotics, and superfoods with micronutrients. High-quality protein sources, such as lean meats and fish, are featuring more prominently in pet food formulations, including the content and sourcing of the protein. Pet owners are seeking grain-free and limited ingredient lists for pets with food sensitivities and allergies, a trend in response to canine dilated cardiomyopathy.

Big Country Raw’s Thrive brand products have micronutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, essential vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes, and prebiotic fibre agents for a healthy digestive tract in dogs and cats. Photo © Big Country Raw

Fresh, refrigerated, frozen and raw pet foods continue to gain recognition as pet parents look for alternatives to dry and canned foods. Smithville, Ont.-based Big Country Raw provides a range of raw pet foods for dogs and cats, and uses a combination of meats from turkey, lamb, and beef to salmon. Big Country Raw also produces Thrive, a pet probiotics brand. Combined, the raw food and probiotics provide the nutrients and micronutrients for pets including omega-3 fatty acids, essential vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes, and prebiotic fibre agents for a healthy digestive tract in dogs and cats. Toronto-based Carna4 offers a synthetic-free, whole food nugget for dogs that is quick baked and air dried, as a ‘convenient alternative’ to raw pet food. The company also places emphasis on clean labels and minimal processing.

Additional ingredients finding their way into pet food formulations include turmeric, CBD, and adaptogens, all believed to provide anti-inflammatory, calming and overall well-being to pets.

Some owners are turning to homemade and DIY pet food, under the support of veterinarians and pet nutritionist, to have more control over ingredients and quality. For example, with lack of exercise, pet obesity is a growing concern, so pet foods targeting increasing demand for weight management diets and portion control recommendations can help maintain healthy weight in pets.

A growing demand for transparency in the pet food supply chains leads pet parents to want to know where ingredients come from and how the food was produced, and companies are now providing this information. Tails.com offers personalized pet menus as well as applications where pet parents can customize their pet’s diet based on its age, breed, health condition, and individual needs and preferences, refined with online questionnaires, and consultations with veterinarians, pet nutritionists, and even endorsed by organizing bodies such as the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA).

Whether it is legacy companies such as General Mills, Purina, Royal Canin, and Tyson, or newer firms such as Natural Pet Food, Big Country Raw, The Chompery (producing pet snacks from all-natural ingredients, sourced and made in North America), Champion Pet foods (Orijen and Acana), who are renowned for high-quality, biologically appropriate pet foods using fresh, regional ingredients, or Open Farm, who are recognized for ethically sourced, sustainable pet foods with humanely raised meats and ocean-caught fish, the landscape of pet foods has permanently shifted to one of customized, personalized and conscious pet food purchasing. Canada is particularly well positioned to remain a leader in companion animal nutrition innovation with leading research centres such as the University of Guelph, and investment companies like Dane Creek Capital, who specialize in supporting companies that are the future of pet food.

Mark Juhasz, CEO of Harvest Insights, has over 20 years of experience in the agri-food sector. He can be reached at www.harvestinsights.com.

“It’s a company that started with the idea of bringing hot chocolate to all families in Colombia, but [the idea was] also to see how through that product, and through developing hot chocolate, they could also bring development and well-being to cocoa-growing, rural families in Colombia,” said Marcela Jaramillo, VP of marketing for Luker Chocolate, a 120-year-old family-owned business.

Fine flavoured cocoa

When we think of Columbian crops, cocoa might not be top of mind. But Colombia is the 10^th largest cocoa producer in the world. It produced 62,000 tons in 2022. What sets the country apart is that 95 per cent of the country’s cocoa for export is fine flavour cocoa. A special quality classification designated by the International Cocoa Organization, fine flavour cocoas have nutty, floral, or even fruity flavour profiles and is ideal for chocolates.

“[This cocoa] allows us to develop dark chocolates, for example, an 85 or 90 per cent, and still taste all the aromas and flavours that we love about chocolate, without having to add too much to the chocolate,” said Jaramillo.

Cocoa farming is also a safe and sustainable alternative to illicit activities such as drug trafficking and the violence that goes along with it. Remote and isolated, Colombia’s countryside and cocoa-growing regions have been especially affected by the 50 years of narco trafficking.

“Cocoa is a great income option for communities that live in lower altitude areas where illegal crops are grown. So, cocoa is a strong option to also drive peace in the countryside,” added Jaramillo.

Luker’s portfolio includes everything from 90 per cent dark chocolates to 36 per cent white chocolates.

Global footprint

In 2005, Luker expanded from hot chocolate to a line of couverture chocolates that are used by manufacturers to produce a wide range of products like baked goods and ice creams. Luker’s heritage recipe portfolio includes everything from 90 per cent dark chocolates to 36 per cent white chocolates.

Exporting to 40 countries, Luker Chocolates’ ingredients are used by manufacturers like GoodSam Foods, Petit Pot, and Lacey’s (Desserts On Us). The company employs more than 600 people with offices in Europe, the U.K., the U.S., and Colombia. Luker entered the U.S. market in 2008 and Canada in 2015. It  acquired  a  majority stake in Lyra group in 2022, a leading Slovakian chocolate manufacturer. Last year, Luker’s net revenue was over $110 million.

Private label

In 2008-09, Luker launched a private label division that now produces custom bars, snacks, chocolate-covered fruits and nuts, and a hot chocolate stick. Serving around 12 per cent of their total sales, the private label is manufactured in Colombia and in the recently acquired production facility in Slovakia. These facilities are certified BASC and FSCC2200, as well as offer kosher and non-GMO options. Jaramillo believes in “really working with brands to see how we can grow together and help them grow and find those business objectives that they have.”

New initiatives

In 2021, Luker launched an oat beverage-based chocolate. It was challenging to capture the indulgence and creaminess of the traditional line with novel ingredients, but after many trials and errors, they managed to formulate an oat beverage-based chocolate that mirrors dairy chocolate in taste and texture.

Other innovations include working with coconut sugar and creating sugar-free alternatives to cater to health-conscious consumers. In recent years, Luker has also been selling single-origin (i.e. country, region, estate) chocolates. Like wine, Jaramillo noted that each region provides a different flavour profile for the chocolate.

Traceability

While many companies have adopted sustainable practices, Luker Chocolates takes it one step further. In 2018, Luker signed the Cocoa and Peace initiative that prevents deforestation in cocoa-growing regions. Chocolate Dream, launched in 2018, teaches farmers how to protect local biodiversity, avoid water contamination and ensure responsible use of natural resources.

With a holistic approach to sustainability, Luker is also working to improve the lives of their workers. By 2027, the company is aiming to boost the incomes of 1,500 farmers by 20 per cent. They aim to do so by supporting education, gender-focused entrepreneurship, and reinforcing the human rights of 5,000 families. They are also working to achieve 90 per cent adherence to the Women’s Empowerment Principles, and in 2022, they changed policies emphasizing gender equality and fair pay for women.

Currently, all their cocoa can be traced to the first purchasing point, which the team at Luker says is crucial to ensure farmers are paid fairly and crops are grown sustainably. By 2027, Luker aims to conserve 5,000 hectares of land in the regions of Necocli, Tumaco, Huila, Casanare, Sur de Bolivar and Caldas. The company is well on its way to achieving this goal, as last year they protected 2,670 hectares by documenting the whole supply chain, demonstrating farmer’s payments and geo-referencing images. It plans to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. Having already achieved carbon neutrality across all their operations (including their farms), they are now tracking their carbon footprint and the footprint of their suppliers.

Sustainability

Recently, Luker earned B-Corp certification, a designation that highlights the company’s high social and environmental performance. The certification is a commitment not just to earning a profit but to their workers, the community, and the environment. Additionally, initiatives like the Chocolate Dream anchor their sustainability plans through a collaborative approach to sustainability and social well-being.

This article was originally published in the November/December 2023 issue of Food in Canada.

Effective resumes contain information about a candidate’s education, skills, and requirements to help prospective employers identify interviewees; similarly, a certain level of information is required to help consumers understand the benefit of sustainable products. In some of my recent collaborative work, I explored strategies to increase consumer acceptance of aquaponics, a sustainable food production system where fish and vegetables are grown in the same water-circulating system to reduce inputs while maximizing outputs.¹ When consumers were given a brief description of aquaponics, they preferred wild-caught fish. However, when a detailed description of the fishing methods was provided, their purchase intention for aquaponic fish exceeded that of wild-caught fish. Interestingly, the increase in purchase intention was driven by the impact of the message on expected tastiness and healthiness. Sustainability messages often create a ‘halo’ effect, a phenomenon when positive feelings created by one attribute elevate the perception of unrelated attributes. Strategic education about sustainability benefits can positively improve a product’s appeal in areas beyond the environmental benefits alone.

After preparing a basic resume, savvy jobseekers will seek to understand the goals and values of the prospective company. Likewise, it is critical to understand the values and beliefs of the target consumer. We recently demonstrated that the impact of a sustainability message depends on the characteristics of the person receiving it. ² For example, text messages promoting plant-based eating had a bigger impact on intention to reduce meat and increase plant protein consumption when the person receiving it valued health, thought that plant-based eating was morally the right thing to do, and when they felt like others would approve of their plant-based eating. Recently, we explored how an increasingly prominent personal identity—political ideology—could influence sustainable food choices.³ We found that U.S. liberals were more open to plant-based meat alternatives than conservatives. Beyond simply intending to purchase plant-based meat alternatives more often, U.S. liberals expected the products to even taste better. Since taste experiences are connected with value systems, strategic messages resonating with the target consumer may improve sensory experiences. Understanding the consumer is a key to choosing the right promotional sustainability message.

After researching a potential employer, many job candidates will tailor their resume to highlight how their experiences can best meet the position requirements. Likewise, foods and beverages will be more successful if the product’s value aligns with the sustainability claim. Consumers ‘hire’ products for different purposes—sometimes the food must meet a functional need such as ‘fuller longer’ or ‘healthy snack’ while other times it may have a more hedonic function such as ‘indulgent dessert’. Therefore, the effectiveness of product claims will differ by product category. For example, organic is a popular claim that appeals to many consumers. However, adding an organic certification does not always increase product appeal. Although an organic seal generally does increase improve acceptance of products marketed as a healthy choice, it can actually lower the evaluation of products that promise an indulgent experience or an ingredient-specific functional benefit.⁴ We recently found that effect of framing a substantively identical claim with either a self or environment-focused claim depended on the product type.⁵ Framing the environmental claim as a personal benefit worked better when the product’s purpose was hedonic (brownies). Likewise, when the product had a more functional use (granola), framing the claim as “better for the environment” worked better. We hypothesize that the “better for you” claim worked better for an indulgent product because people ‘hire’ brownies for a more egotistic reason and thus a self-focused claim complemented the goal of consuming the product. Claims supporting (rather than distracting from) the product’s value proposition will be more successful.

Credibility and trust are also critical to a successful message. Many consumers are skeptical and unsure about what sustainability claims mean. Therefore, building trust in the brand and company are key prerequisites to effective messages. It is important to also ‘walk the walk’ and not just ‘talk the talk’. Companies should examine their culture and how other aspects of the brand align with sustainability.

Each of these examples illustrate how crafting the right message, for the right consumer, for the right product can strengthen the evidence that the product meets the ‘minimum qualifications’ of taste and quality that consumers seek when ‘hiring’ a food or beverage. By remembering that consumers primarily buy food to eat it (not necessarily to save the planet), environmental benefits can be framed so that they also support the product experience. Aligning sustainability with consumer’s product ‘job descriptions’ can support a food system that is both environmentally and economically sustainable.

References

¹ Kralik, B., Weisstein, F., Meyer, J., Neves, K., Anderson, D., & Kershaw, J. (2022). From water to table: A multidisciplinary approach comparing fish from aquaponics with traditional production methods. Aquaculture, 552, 737953. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2022.737953.

² Lim, T. J., Okine, R. N., & Kershaw, J. C. (2021). Health- or Environment-Focused Text Messages as a Potential Strategy to Increase Plant-Based Eating among Young Adults: An Exploratory Study. Foods, 10(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10123147.

³ Research currently under review.

⁴ Nadricka, K., Millet, K., & Verlegh, P. W. J. (2020). When organic products are tasty: Taste inferences from an Organic = Healthy Association. Food Quality and Preference, 83, 103896. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2020.103896.

⁵ Weisstein, F. L., Meyer, J., & Kershaw, J. (2023). A matter of alignment? Effects of product types and environmental claim framing on consumer evaluation of sustainable foods. Business Strategy and the Environment (n/a). https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3565.

Jonathan Kershaw is an associate professor of food and nutrition at Bowling Green State University.

This article was originally published in the November/December 2023 issue of Food in Canada.

“Everything we sell is top tier. We only deal in the best stuff,” said Graham, chief operating officer of Oceanfood Sales. “Our products are for people who understand quality and know what they want.”

Headquartered in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Oceanfood Sales makes two house brands and imports another half-dozen brands from partner companies around the world. Most of those frozen seafood products are destined for the foodservice market, as well as to major food retailers across Canada.

Graham said Oceanfood Sales’ premium house brand—Nanuk, the Inuit word for polar bear—was originally developed for the foodservice industry. But its popularity among chefs led to it becoming a retail item.

The brand is produced at Oceanfood Sales’ smoking facility on Mitchell Island in the Fraser River. More than 100 people work at the 30,000-sf facility, where wild and farmed salmon, steelhead, trout, mackerel, albacore tuna, yellow fin tuna and black cod are filleted, salted, smoked, and packaged into 18 items across the Nanuk brand’s three product lines: cold smoked, hot smoked, and filets, portions and loins.

“Smoked salmon is a luxury item that is meant to taste good,” said Graham, who runs the company with his sister Louise, and vice-president Ted Kim. “My job is to find the best salmon, the best cod, the best everything.”

Product line

The company’s second house brand, which is called Voyageur, is a co-packed line developed exclusively for Canadian restaurateurs, chefs, and suppliers. It features a dozen raw and cooked tuna, shrimp, salmon, ground fish, crab, squid, and scallop products from around the world. Imported seafood brands that Oceanfood Sales buys and markets across Canada include King & Prince, Mrs. Friday’s, Pride of Alaska, Coldwater Prawns, Dutch Harbour, Orca Bay Foods, and Upper Crust Enterprises.

Graham said strong and growing demand for his company’s products across Canada has led to the opening of sales and distribution offices in Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal.

A heritage of quality

The company’s quest for quality began with Graham’s father John, who moved to B.C. from Ontario in the late 1950s with the intention of studying medicine at the University of British Columbia. Instead he got a job on a salmon fishing boat in Namu, a now-abandoned fishing port on the B.C. coast.

Namu was then a hub in a flourishing West Coast commercial fishing industry. It was notably home to a large cannery owned by B.C. Packers, Canada’s largest fish processing company until the 1990s, when the fishery floundered.

“Dad got a job with B.C. Packers and spent several years there in processing and sales,” said Graham. “That’s where he learned the seafood business, which is really a primary resource industry like mining or logging.”

Graham was just five when his father struck out on his own and founded Oceanfood Sales in 1970.

“He started buying and selling troll-caught B.C. salmon to smokers in Europe, predominantly France and Denmark,” said Graham.

He said five kinds of wild salmon were then being harvested by the millions using hooks or nets along Canada’s West Coast, including Coho, chum, pink, spring and sockeye, the most prized species.

“Troll salmon are the best quality because they’re caught using lines and hooks and can be bled and dressed on the boat,” said Graham. “You can’t do that with scoop nets because they are too many fish. Plus, with nets you get other problems like bruising.”

In addition to exporting salmon, Graham said his father also began importing truckloads of breaded shrimp from Fish King in Los Angeles and wild frozen shrimp from Alabama and Louisiana.

“He was one the first people in Canada to do that,” said Graham. “He was like a trader, buying and selling salmon and shrimp to distributors and wholesalers.”

He said his father’s friends and clients in Europe later sold him on the idea of getting into the salmon smoking business.

“Dad bought a small plant right downtown, not far from where our offices are now,” said Graham. Both he and his sister started working in the plant in the 1980s while studying, respectively, marketing and accounting at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Both siblings joined their parents in the family firm after graduating.

“It was an easy transition because we grew up in the business,” he said. “It was the main topic of conversation around the family table. Dad would often bring friends and clients home for supper. You learned a lot just by osmosis.”

Graham said he also often accompanied his father, who is now retired, on his frequent trips around the world in search of new seafood products and partners.

“My father is a very engaging person and was an excellent salesman who was well respected,” said Graham. “My sister and I were lucky to have him as a mentor.”

Adapting to demand

Graham said the decision to build a state-of-the-art smoking facility 20 years ago on Mitchell Island on the Fraser River, which separates the cities of Vancouver and Richmond, was the key to unlocking the growth and development of the company’s top-selling Nanuk brand.

“We were turning people away before and we couldn’t pursue the customers we wanted,” said Graham.

He said the new smoking facility was designed “like a circle that’s always moving forward” for the manufacture of products and to eliminate the possibility of cross contamination.

Raw materials—much of it now aquaculture salmon works—enter the one-floor facility on one end and are put into a holding freezer before being racked and moved to a thawing room.

Once thawed, fish are processed through fillet, pin bone and brining machines before being smoked, sliced, vacuum packed, frozen, and then put into boxes for pick up by third-party reefer carriers.

Graham said he and his sister are in the plant almost daily, though they no longer pitch in to help on the single-day shift or with clean up.

“Louise and I have built a strong team from the foundation we inherited and we continue to grow the business together with our employees, which are our most valuable asset,” he said.

Graham added he and his sister also regularly visit trade shows and other smoking facilities to stay abreast of the latest technologies.

“The seafood business is constantly changing and evolving,” said Graham. “We continue to strive to make the best possible product by adapting to new ways of doing and to our customers wants and needs.”

This article was originally published in the November/December 2023 issue of Food in Canada.

In the world of food choices, 2022 was marked by contractions in the valuations of big-name plant-based brands. Private investors re-circled with greater caution in due diligence, assessing unique selling propositions, and how products contribute to unmet consumer needs. Start-ups, scale-ups, legacy CPGs, and their suppliers are in deep iteration mode to meet these complex market aspirations.

Adding to the broader equation is the perceived dichotomy between animal- and plant- based diets. The relatively subtle rise of flexitarian diets is a broader marketplace consideration. Flexitarians represent a larger segment of consumers than vegetarians and vegans alone. Further, flexitarians don’t seem to compromise on taste, texture, pleasure, or expected value in price points. Likely we are seeing some of the continued fallout of this in 2023, with market adjustments, post-hype in 2022.

Heme can produce colour intensity, and ‘bleed’ in plant-based burger patties. Photo © Bill / Adobe Stock

New ingredients

By way of specific examples, globally competitive companies are pursuing food ingredient formulations to address specific needs in the market. Collagen, for example, adds texture and unique mouthfeel in food applications (currently largely produced from meat industry by-products). Companies like Canada’s Liven Proteins are seeking to produce collagen at greater scale through precision fermentation. Whey protein, another important ingredient in a range of dairy products, (traditionally sourced from bovine milk), is being produced at a growing scale by U.S.-based Perfect Day. Significant energy is being committed to food ingredients sourced from mycoproteins (from mushrooms, mycelia, and fungi), and from algal-based powders and oils, by Canadian companies like Smallfood and Mara, for nutritional food supplementation.

Colour also matters in food purchase decisions, as does its ‘naturalness’, and clean label, not an easy balancing act. An example of this is with ‘heme’, derived from either plants or animals, and developed by different alternative protein companies. Heme can produce colour intensity, and ‘bleed’ in plant-based burger patties. Currently, there is an ongoing legal dispute between Impossible Foods and Motif FoodWorks over production process claims in the application of heme.

Global competition in the food ingredients market is surging out of traditionally strong ecosystems in Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Japan, and Korea to name a few. Companies like Givaudan, IFF, Firmenich, DSM, McCormick, Lesaffre, Novozymes, Chr. Hansen, Griffith, Caldic and Ajinomoto are some of the leading providers of food ingredients meeting new expectations in the subtle art and science of food product formulation. So, where does this leave Canada?

Advantage Canada

In 2022, Canadian food and beverage exports grew at a healthy pace, at 14 per cent year-over-year, but food and beverage imports also increased, up 18 per cent. Changing multicultural demographics in Canada means international food imports are up. According to a recent Farm Credit Canada (FCC) report, expectations for 2023 are that grain and oilseed milling and meat product manufacturing will outperform plant-based protein products, seasonings, dressings. The report added that demand remains strong for ‘affordable, convenient, and sustainably produced foods’, and there is ‘strong demand for flour and edible oils from downstream food and beverage manufacturers.’ Specific to dairy alternatives, oat prices are down 40 per cent, which could make oat-made food alternatives more competitively priced.

Canada’s advantage lies in a traditionally strong land and natural resource base to source raw ingredients from farms, marine ecosystems, and forests. Canada is a leading producer of peas, lentils, flax, hemp, and oats, which increasingly is translating into value-added products such as protein isolates, starches, concentrates, flours, and fibres that are essential for a new generation of products. These lend themselves well to export markets seeking protein-rich foods.

Strong advances in the Canadian food ingredient sector have been driven by the government-backed efforts of Protein Industries Canada and Plant-based Foods of Canada that foster innovation in the ecosystem, especially over the past decade. Companies such as France-based Roquette Foods’ investment in Manitoba, as well as the establishment of Phyto Organix Foods and More Than Protein Ingredients (both in Alberta), are testament to ongoing efforts in plant-based food ingredient creation. It is also important to acknowledge industry challenges, such as Winnipeg-based Merit Functional Foods going into receivership in first half of 2023. A surge of effort by food ingredient companies, old and new including Ardra Bio, Genuine Taste, Mara, Bartek, Biofect Innovations, and Lallemand, are further evidence of an attuned industry seeking to bring valuable and functional ingredients to the marketplace, especially with the power of fermentation (both traditional and precision-based).

These providers will need to conform to the diversity of consumer and business needs in export markets, whether in functionality such as emulsification, stabilizing, texture, colour, or flavour enhancement. If Canadian companies are to thrive, they need to understand these subtle nuances. Realizing these objectives with trading partners in both developed and emerging markets across the Americas, the E.U. and Asia, requires agile ecosystems, supply chain partners, government co-ordination, financing, and university and college researchers astute to market segments. Canada also needs to protect its reputation in food safety, traceability, and lend itself to articulating this among the health, pricing, and sustainability drivers of today’s food sector.

Mark Juhasz is CEO and founder of Harvest Insights. He has more than 20 years of experience in the agri-food industry. He can be reached at www.harvestinsights.com.

This article was originally published in the October 2023 issue of Food in Canada.

While table sugar has remained one of the key ingredients in food product development, non-nutritive sweeteners are widely used to meet consumer demands, especially from those who have diabetes or are looking for low-sugar or low-calorie alternatives to the conventional tabletop sweetener, soft drinks, breakfast cereals, chewing gum, desserts, etc.

In May 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) published new guidelines on non-sugar sweeteners (NSS), such as acesulfame K, aspartame, advantame, cyclamates, neotame, saccharin, sucralose, stevia, and stevia derivatives.

WHO has recommended against the use of NSS to control body weight or reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), as they do not help reduce body fat in the longer term in adults and children. WHO also noted that these sweeteners increase the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease.

“Replacing free sugars with NSS does not help with weight control in the long term. People need to consider other ways to reduce free sugars intake, such as consuming food with naturally occurring sugars, like fruit, or unsweetened food and beverages,” said Francesco Branca, WHO director for nutrition and food safety. “NSS are not essential dietary factors and have no nutritional value. People should reduce the sweetness of the diet altogether, starting early in life, to improve their health.”

The recommendation applies to all people except individuals with pre-existing diabetes and includes all synthetic and naturally occurring or modified non-nutritive sweeteners that are not classified as sugars found in manufactured foods and beverages or sold on their own to be added to foods and beverages by consumers.

The WHO guideline on NSS is part of a suite of existing and forthcoming guidelines on healthy diets that aim to establish lifelong healthy eating habits, improve dietary quality, and decrease the risk of NCDs worldwide.

We spoke with a food scientist and a medical doctor about what these guidelines mean and how adopting them could impact food production, consumers, and beyond.

Impacts on food production

According to Lara Tiro, food scientist and owner of Rebel Botanica, a food product development consulting agency, abolishing non-nutritive sweeteners in foods would be detrimental to manufacturers and brand owners whose value proposition is eliminating sugar and zero or low calories.

“Many brands have been paving the way with better-for-you versions of our favourite sweet indulgences using non-nutritive sweeteners such as stevia, monk fruit, and erythritol, over the last 10 years,” says Tiro.

In the first half of 2018 alone, the use of stevia in food and beverages grew 23 per cent and 33 per cent, respectively, according to a study by Mintel.

Removing non-nutritive tabletop sweeteners and products from grocery store shelves would require formulation changes, which would potentially drive-up production costs. 

Impacts on consumer

Reformulating existing product lines without using non-nutritive sweeteners could also pose challenges to consumer behaviour, as some have developed strong expectations of ingredients and food products with zero calories.

Some consumers may also find trading off calories and sweetness an obstacle, especially when there are people who prefer not to reduce sugary flavours in their diet, notes Dr. Julie Wilson, M.D CCFP, a Richmond, B.C.-based family physician and owner of Terra Nova Medical Clinics.

Wilson adds that these low-sugar and sugar-free desserts, drinks and foods are essential and accessible options for people with diabetes, as well as for others who may want to use sugar replacements in their foods and drinks.

Alternate sources to consider

Health Canada has not indicated if it will adopt WHO’s guidelines, so aspartame, saccharin, sugar alcohols, and stevia remain as approved non-nutritive sweeteners in the country.

Tiro suggests food manufacturers could return to the lab bench, experiment, and embrace cane sugar, agave, date sugar, coconut sugar, and/or honey to find possible solutions while looking into other ingredient alternatives to maintain a similar flavour profile to the existing products with non-nutritive sweeteners.

D-Tagatose is a low-calorie sucrose alternative that was approved by Health Canada as a novel ingredient in May 2022. It is a carbohydrate with a chemical structure related to fructose and is about 90 per cent sweeter than fructose. It has a low glycemic load and could be used in partial replacement or in conjunction with other non-nutritive sweeteners in foods, such as soft drinks.

Everything in moderation

While Canada’s Food Guide clearly states that sugar substitutes are not a necessary part of healthy eating for the general population, Diabetes Canada says patients with diabetes could safely consume small amount of sugar substitutes.

Wilson indicates that it is too early to make sweeping changes in food production and consumer behaviours.

Since sugar substitutes could be used as an ingredient to control blood sugar levels without affecting taste preferences, removing them from foods and beverages without conducting thorough and specific research into the relationship of each type of non-nutritive sweeteners on health could prevent consumers’ access to those ingredients and may complicate one’s health management.

Often, food brands develop specific lines of products with a particular population subset in mind, such as gluten-free products for people with Celiac disease and sugar-free candies and chocolates and candies for people with diabetes.

While WHO’s recommendations do not apply to people with pre-existing diabetes, educating consumers with or without diabetes on the differences between the types and sources of naturally occurring sugars and sweeteners may change consumers’ consumption behaviour, thereby creating a shift in developing, manufacturing, and marketing products with sugar sweeteners.

Focusing our efforts on educating consumers on developing healthy relationships with whole foods and their awareness of balanced and nutritious meal patterns and food choices could also be more impactful.

Tiro advises that creating a “less sweetness” food system by following transparent harvest practices, using ingredients from sustainable sources, and being responsibly mindful of the amount of non-nutritive sweeteners used in our food products without sacrificing taste are essential.

It is valuable to consider reducing the overall sweetness in our diet by focusing on natural alternatives. The key is to keep everything in moderation. 

Our most recent analysis was just completed. To set the context, we have to remind ourselves that Canada’s aging demographics and falling birth rates have led to a decline in natural population growth (births minus deaths). Natural population growth is anticipated to continue to decline in the coming years.

We also know from previous research that a single unfilled position in the food and beverage processing industry could cost businesses as much as $190 per day in lost net revenue. With over 8,200 businesses across Canada that employ people, losses from job vacancies could total up to a staggering $9.3 million in net revenue per day or $3.4 billion per year.

The Canadian food and beverage manufacturing industry will need 142,000 new people between 2023 and 2030. Image © FPSC

Labour needs

What we have learned over the summer is that as of 2022, the food and beverage manufacturing sector employed approximately 300,000 people and industry employment is expected to reach 325,000 by 2030, an increase of nine per cent.

However, we also know that between 2023 and 2030, 66,870 food and beverage processing employees are expected to retire. Additionally, 25,702 new employees will be needed due to projected growth in the sector. This means the industry has a base requirement of 92,572 new employees over the next seven years or approximately 30 per cent of the current workforce. There is even more to the story because we must also include in the calculation the current 50,000 vacancies that remain unfilled. In total, the Canadian food and beverage manufacturing industry will need 142,000 new people between 2023 and 2030.

Overall, we predict that labour productivity will rise by 2.7 per cent between now and 2030 across all sectors except beverage manufacturing. This lack of productivity is due to the breweries subsector, which  has 300 more employer establishments today than it did five years ago.

Beverage manufacturing also has the highest demand for new people, both in terms of numbers and percentage, with the sector requiring 19,000 new people by 2030 or 38.5 per cent of their current workforce.

We found that the meat and poultry processing sector is much more stable with the hiring projection only accounting for 25 per cent of the current workforce, or five per cent below the 30 per cent for all of food and beverage processing. In the seafood processing sector, we found the oldest workforce and the highest percentage demand to replace retiring workers with 28 per cent of its current workforce expected to retire by 2030. The retirement demand accounts for 77 per cent of seafood’s total hiring projections.

So how do we address the forecasted demand of 142,000 people by 2030 across the Canadian food and beverage manufacturing industry?

The immigration opportunity

First, we have to start by looking to new Canadians. Canada is welcoming 1.2 million newcomers between 2021 to 2023. Immigrants already represent 31 per cent of the industry’s workforce, which is a few points higher than the general labour force in Canada. 

From surveying, we have learned that 44 per cent of manufacturers are making a concerted effort to recruit newcomers. Many already use the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and have dedicated programs to recruit and train immigrants, including refugees.

Compared to the average Canadian resident, newcomers face higher rates of underemployment and unemployment, are more highly motivated to look for employment opportunities, and are more interested in taking a job in food and beverage processing. Projections also tell us that if current trends continue, by 2041 half of the Canadian population will be made up of immigrants and their Canadian-born children. Immigration is an opportunity for everyone. 

Jennefer Griffith is the executive director of Food Processing Skills Canada.

Hans Dairy makes yogurt products, smoothies, fluid milk for further processing, rice pudding, and a butter line. The company’s USP is its clean ingredient deck and taste that offers a home-made feel.

“Everything we buy is local. Our philosophy is 95 per cent of the ingredients, packaging, etc. are procured from Canadian companies. We try our hardest to sustain the circular economy here,” explains Sarab.

Hans Dairy specializes in South Asian dairy products.

Retirement plans delayed

The genesis of Hans Dairy is quite inspiring. In their 60s, an age when most people hang up their work boots, Sarab’s father, an engineer, and mother, a customer service representative, decided to do something for themselves.

As first-generation immigrants, they found limited food options, and nothing that tasted desi. They decided to create authentic Indian products that were just like the food they grew up with. Their flagship product was Indian-style yogurt or dahi, which, full disclosure, is a staple in the author’s home.

Sarab wanted to join the business after finishing university–she has a bachelor’s degree in political science from University of Western Ontario, London, Ont., and an MBA in finance and strategy from McGill University, Montreal. However, her parents refused to grant her a free pass. They instead asked her to work elsewhere and gain relevant experience. Therefore, Sarab worked in investment banking in New York, Tokyo, and Amsterdam. 

When her parents were nearing 70 and wanted to retire, they asked Sarab to take over.

“At that time, the business was set up in bricks and mortar. We had the equipment. They had a customer base and I thought that if I don’t jump in now, I’m never going to have this opportunity again. So I gave my notice, moved back to Toronto into my parents’ home and started working with them,” recalls Sarab.

Indian-style yogurt or dahi was the first Hans Dairy product to launch in big box stores.

Not the owner’s daughter

The transition was not without challenges, but Sarab was laser-focused on growing Hans Dairy. She spent a year on the production floor, learning everything about dairy food/beverage production.

“I had to take my pasteurizer’s course  and my grader’s certification. I was able to learn a lot about the various manufacturing elements like steam boilers, pneumatics, cleaning process, engineering, etc. This gave me a knowledge base that allowed me to then have conversations with people,” Sarab explains.

She also didn’t shy away from asking for help. “I think sometimes when we come into a position where we’re expected to be the leader, we feel like we need to show that we know everything, but when you don’t know everything, that is really the wrong way to approach it. So I asked when I needed to. People were very helpful, and I was surprised at how forthcoming they were with information. This way, I built a connection with people. They knew that I was here not to dictate what was going on, but to build the business from the down up,” she adds.

Sarab inherited a company with all male employees, predominantly from the South Asian community. Initially, it was challenging to get them to respond in the manner she wanted because they sometimes perceived her as the owner’s daughter and not the company’s head.

As a woman of South Asian origins, Sarab had to deal with certain unconscious biases. A patriarchal thinking that’s quite pervasive in South Asian communities assumes women would eventually stop working and become full-time moms. Sarab was often asked, “What is going to happen when you have children? Who is going to run your business?” As Sarab says, people thought Hans Dairy was almost her pet project, and “I was doing it part time until my ‘real life’ started, which was family, children, and household stuff. When someone views you in that perspective, they don’t take you seriously. Secondly, you’re not invited to those social gatherings where business deals happen or those connections are made, so that for sure has held us [women] back. But on the other end, maybe it gave us some extra steam to prove everybody wrong.”

Another challenge was finding mentors. It took her about 12 years to find good mentors. Thankfully, Sarab is now part of an organization of women CEOs, which has been supportive. The group meets monthly and helps members with whatever issues, such as HR and technology, they’re facing. She also has one-on-one mentors within the dairy industry who help her with business strategies. Sarab’s third source of mentors, and maybe the most precious one, are her family members and friends. Sarab’s sister Mandeep is also in the business; she’s the marketing director of Hans Dairy.

“Women need to support women that they affiliate with because that’s the only way we’re going to pull each other up. And that’s the only way we’re going to make it more of an equal playing field,” adds Sarab.

A clean ingredient deck and a homemade feel are hallmarks of Hans Dairy products.

Achievements

Slowly, but steadily, Sarab grew Hans Dairy. Her most memorable moment was in 2008 when the first sku of Hans Dairy Dahi was launched in big box chains.

“Finally we broke in. We’re in, and now we have a launching pad for a lot of other things,” she explains.

Her biggest achievement to-date would be building Hans Dairy’s current manufacturing facility. About eight years ago, the company hit capacity at the place they were in. They could either hire a co-packer or build a new plant. It was a difficult decision due to the risky investment, but they decided to buy a piece of land and build a facility that suited the company.

“It was such a great choice to have that space to expand in, to own it yourself. You can make any improvements and not be worried about having to move again,” says Sarab.

Diversifying the workforce

As mentioned earlier, Hans, largely, had male employees. Sarab has tried hard to diversify the workforce.

“If I wanted women to come into the manufacturing side and stay, I needed to make sure that I had at least two to three women because otherwise they felt a little isolated. Nobody was engaging with them. So, the work environment work wasn’t as fun as it should be,” she explains.

Hiring in pairs has paid off, as it’s almost a 50-50 split in the back for men and women. Hans Dairy has also implemented a referral program. “People that are here understand what the real work is at the factory. They refer people. Once the new people join, the employees who referred them get a bonus. That’s really helped us get good people,” explains Sarab.

Future plans

Hans Dairy is developing a buffalo yogurt line, a flavoured whipped butter line, and a Middle Eastern dairy product line, so watch out for these.

Advocacy

Besides running her company, Sarab is also an advocate for the industry, as a board member of Food and Beverage Ontario. She urges people who are interested in food manufacturing to simply ‘jump in.’

“I think that there’s room for everybody. When I joined the industry, one of my father’s friends gave me advice that ‘don’t steal market share, create it’. If you have a product that’s not available on the market and it’s unique and different, there’s tons of room in this country because we’re so multicultural. There are so many different, diverse appetites out there. It may take you longer than if you were making something that already existed, but there’s room for that,” she encourages.

She also asks women who are entering/joining family businesses to not fall into the supporting role.

“If you’re the leader, make sure you’re the leader. If there is someone in your organization, be it family that does not want to see you as a leader and is undermining your authority, you need to have that person pivot out or make sure they understand who’s the boss because you really do not want to be fighting personal battles in your business,” advises Sarab. 

This article was originally published in the October 2023 issue of Food in Canada.