TORONTO — McCain Foods Limited has acquired a significant minority share of New Brunswick-based data science company Fiddlehead Technology. As a result of this transaction, McCain and Shawn Carver, co-founder and CEO of Fiddlehead, become the only shareholders in the company.
Fiddlehead focuses on helping food-and-beverage manufacturers optimize their operations using advanced analytics. When the company launched six years ago, McCain became Fiddlehead’s founding customer, with the two companies collaborating on predictive models for forecasting sales.
“The insight we have received working with Fiddlehead to date has been instrumental in helping McCain drive growth through data analytics,” says Jillian Moffatt, Chief Technology Officer, McCain Foods. “We’re proud to be investing in another New Brunswick-born company that will enable us to continue using data science and technology to ensure we remain at the forefront of Canadian business.”
Fiddlehead uses machine learning to develop solutions to some of the most complex problems in the fast-moving consumer-goods industry. Building on its initial work with McCain and other leading food manufacturers, Fiddlehead has grown deep experience around helping its customers monetize their data. The investment from McCain will support Fiddlehead’s expansion plans, including hiring new data scientists and data engineers at the company’s Moncton, N.B. office.
“When Fiddlehead was just a start-up, our collaboration with McCain became the foundation for building our business,” says Carver. “This investment ensures we will have the talent and resources that we need to help our growing list of customers realize more value from their data.”
