TORONTO — The Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) has invested more than $3 million into five projects valued at nearly $7.3 million through the organization’s Food Innovation Challenge and Innovation Booster programs. The projects focus on developing robotics, clean label and sustainability solutions for Canada’s food sector.
The Food Innovation Challenge funding recipients are Gastronomous Technologies Inc. and Laboratoire Innodal Inc. Gastronomous Technologies Inc., in partnership with Recipe Unlimited and Sodexo Canada Limited, will receive $1,919,655 to fund the development of various smart kitchen equipment while Laboratoire Innodal Inc., in partnership with Dempsey Corporation and E. Gagnon et Fils Limitée, will receive $943,592 to improve the shelf life of food with natural and clean label antimicrobials as opposed to traditional chemical preservatives.
The Innovation Booster funding recipients are Ag-Tronic Control Systems Inc., which will receive $100,000 to complete the development of globally certified-compostable pressure-sensitive label materials, as well as the final printed PLU labels; Canadian Pacifico Seaweeds Ltd., which will receive $93,304 to scale up the extraction, activation and usage of vitamin B12 and other water-soluble compounds; and Groupe Foodarom Inc., who will receive $99,834 to develop a natural solution to eliminate multi-resistant fungal contaminants that are found in concentrated fruit syrups and purees.
“By investing in breakthrough and transformative innovation, CFIN stimulates collaboration across the food sector and enables high-potential Canadian food innovators to advance past technical hurdles that create barriers to commercialization,” says Joseph Lake, CEO, CFIN. “This first round of investment programming will help Canadian players in the food sector compete and lead on the global stage.”
“The funding from CFIN will allow Gastronomous to develop and commercialize much needed and innovative automation solutions for commercial kitchens with some of Canada’s and the world’s largest foodservice companies,” says Kevork Sevadjian, CEO and co-founder, Gastronomous Technologies Inc. “Our team brings a unique approach to solving the most painful problems of the restaurant industry.”
“The support from CFIN has allowed us to jump-start the commercialization process of our Ph.D. study findings, allowing us to deliver our unique solution in a meaningful way,” says Majid Hajibeigy from Canadian Pacifico Seaweeds Ltd. “Too often, fantastic findings are simply studies filed away; our mission is to apply the science and bring it to life on a large scale.”
