The government-backed not-for-profit was established last year to spark innovation in the food sector. The organisation has launched a number of initiatives to stimulate collaboration and elevate business performance across the Canadian food sector, including multiple streams of funding. Membership to the organisation is free and open to distributors, retailers, processors, manufacturers, funders and innovators working in technology, packaging and adjacent fields.
“A CFIN membership offers Canadian innovators and enterprises of all sizes new opportunities to discover trends and insights, innovate collaboratively, and grow with like-minded business-to-business customers, suppliers, technology companies, researchers and investors,” said Dana McCauley, chief experience officer of CFIN.
Valuable insight
The partnership with SIAL Canada will see senior CFIN execs – including McCauley, Joseph Lake (CEO), Julie Daigle (regional innovation director, Quebec), and Linda Fox (regional innovation director, Ontario) – take to the podium to lead discussions to help businesses identify opportunities to grow Canada’s economy.
Topics include the ‘food as medicine’ trend; cutting-edge digital tools and tech; healthy future product opportunities; and the new pathways consumers are choosing.
SIAL Canada is acknowledged as the gateway to North American markets for the manufacturing, retail and foodservice sectors. Its 19th edition takes place face-to-face in Montreal from 20-22 April, featuring a host of exhibitors as well as 50+ conferences, workshops and activities. The show is organised by ADAQ (Association des détaillants en alimentation du Québec), the Agri-Food Export Group Quebec-Canada and Comexposium and is an integrate part of the SIAL network – including shows in Paris, Toronto, China, Middle East, Jakarta and India – which bring together 14,000 exhibitors and 330,000 visitors from 200 countries.
“Partnering with SIAL Canada to develop and present some of this year’s conference content is an exciting opportunity to provide valuable insights to leaders of food businesses,” said Lake.
“As a new organisation that champions food innovation, this collaboration is an opportunity to introduce CFIN and its leadership team to the food industry across Canada.”
Thirsty for new ideas
In addition to the conference, McCauley presided over the SIAL Innovation Competition, along with Isabelle Marquis, a food communication and marketing specialist. The theatre of food innovation highlights the world’s ground-breaking products under four categories: packaging, manufacturing process, merchandising and recipe.
“As business returns to normal after the pandemic, innovators are thirsty for new ideas; both the SIAL Innovation Competition and our CFIN conference content will pique new ideas and help attendees springboard their businesses to success,” added McCauley.