From The Government of Canada:
The Government of Canada continues to invest in Canadian innovation in the food and beverage processing industry to create good middle-class jobs and ensure the sector is able to succeed in a competitive global market.
Today, the Honourable Jim Carr, Minister of International Trade Diversification, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, announced an investment of up to $30 million in the Canadian Food Innovators Network (CFIN). Through a new digital hub, a series of collaboration events and network-funded projects, CFIN will bring together key players in Canadian food innovation, including research and development centres; small, medium and large companies; and academia.
The network will help accelerate product development, innovation, and technology adoption in Canada’s food and beverage processing sector by funding projects under three streams:
- Innovative solutions to food processing challenges;
- Collaborative projects in automation, packaging, artificial intelligence, blockchain development and commercialization; and
- New innovation centres that will enable automation and piloting of digital technologies. For projects that will be done in conjunction with industry, companies will contribute matching funds.
Thanks in part to this investment, Canadians will benefit from more Canadian food brands and increased choice of innovative, healthy and sustainable food and beverage products, while small and medium-sized Canadian companies will benefit from new opportunities. For example, the network could help accelerate the development and adoption of new smart food-packaging materials with embedded sensor technology to improve food safety, monitor freshness and extend shelf life.