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Federal government supporting food processing

February 12, 2015, Mississauga, Ont – Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz recently announced an investment of $3 million to support a new research cluster led by the Canadian Food Innovators (CFI).

This investment will help the food and beverage processing industry in developing new processes that enhance quality while managing food safety risks, as well as new products that deliver health and wellness attributes marketed to health-conscious consumers. The research activities will focus on fruits, vegetables, eggs, meat, and cereals.

“This strategic investment by the Government of Canada in innovation in Canada’s food processing sector is important to our competitiveness,” said David Shambrock, chair of the Canadian Food Innovators. “It is enabling Canadian food enterprises to work collaboratively with leading researchers at Canadian universities, Canada’s food tech centres, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s research centres to solve problems, make new discoveries, and improve products and processes. Canadian consumers and our international customers will all benefit from this commitment to innovation.”

The Canadian Food Processing Innovation and Prosperity Cluster is the first-of-its-kind and responds to industry demands to invest research dollars into capturing new economic opportunities for the processing sector while enhancing the competitiveness of the entire food value chain.

Established in 2013, the Canadian Food Innovators serves the Canadian Council of Food Processors (CCFP), which represents seven regional food processing trade associations across Canada.

This investment is made through AgriInnovation Program, a five-year, up to $698-million initiative under Growing Forward 2.