Government invests in innovation to advance Canada’s food processing industry

The Government of Canada will invest up to $4.6 million to the Food and Beverage Cluster through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s AgriScience Program. The cluster, led by the Canadian Food Innovators (CFI), will include an additional $2 million in contributions from industry, for a total investment of $6.6 million.

 

The cluster will support research on product and technology innovations in cereals, oats, pulses and new ingredients that serve as natural preservatives. The projects will also focus on the development of innovative alternatives in frozen food safety practices to help extend shelf-life and enhance Canada’s global competitiveness.

 

Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, on behalf of the Navdeep Bains, minister of innovation, science and economic development, also reaffirmed an investment of up to $30 million in the Canadian Food Innovators Network (CFIN) through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF).

 

The CFIN, led by the Canadian Food Innovators, 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, and blockchain technology; and, pilot-scale equipment at Canada’s food and beverage innovation centres.

Video: How the corn-soy diet transformed swine nutrition

At the 2026 ASAS Midwest Section meeting, Dr. Robert Easter, professor emeritus of swine nutrition at the University of Illinois, spoke at the U.S. Soy sponsored Swine Application Symposium, offering a historical perspective on one of the most important developments in modern pig production: the corn-soybean meal diet. What today is considered a foundational feeding strategy was not always obvious or even accepted.