BURLINGTON, Ont. — Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO) has launched the application process for its second Ontario Chicken Innovation Award.
“Chicken continues to be the top choice for Canadians at home and in restaurants and we know consumers crave new, innovative food products,” says Rob Dougans, president and CEO at Chicken Farmers of Ontario. “At CFO, we want to help our industry get new products to market, which is why, for the second year in a row, we’re making an additional supply of chicken available to help accelerate chicken-product innovation.”
Created in 2018, the Ontario Chicken Innovation Award recognizes top consumer-facing innovations and provides an additional supply of chicken to enable innovation and growth.
Last year, Grand River Foods and Maple Lodge Farms were the inaugural recipients of the award and collaborated to develop a new, frozen, cooked, smoked-chicken product.
“This program is about bringing new, innovative products to market to meet consumer needs. That’s why we’re looking for innovations that are consumer facing, first-of-their-kind in Canada and have some track record — piloted or introduced to the market in the last 18 months, so historical sales data can be included in the application,” says Ed Benjamins, chair of Chicken Farmers of Ontario. “I encourage all companies involved in the processing, marketing and sale of chicken to consider applying.”
Application forms are available at chickeninnovation.ca and will be accepted until Sept. 13, 2019.
