What You Told Us: Highlights from CFIN's Latest Membership Survey

Between November 2025 and January 2026, 439 CFIN members across every region weighed in on where the network is delivering and what they need most heading into the year ahead. The responses point to a membership that's actively using CFIN's core services and hungry for more, particularly when it comes to industry insights, funding support, and opportunities to connect.

Where CFIN is Delivering – 60% of Members Use YODL Monthly

More of you are using YODL, and using it differently than a year ago. Eighty-two percent of respondents use the platform, with roughly six in ten logging in at least monthly. Use of YODL for asking questions and seeking advice jumped 39 percent year over year, which tells us the platform is becoming a genuine working resource and active community.

Funding programs remain the single highest-rated activity, scoring 4.16 out of 5 for importance. That held true across nearly every industry and region.

Perhaps most meaningfully, 76 percent of members said that CFIN membership has helped them overcome innovation barriers. The top three barriers cited were sourcing partners and production facilities, securing funding and investment, and finding customers and adopters.

One survey response captured the general member consensus on what is working and where CFIN is delivering value: "Carry on with the focus on innovation. Keep facilitating connections to service providers, partner organizations, and leveraging the network of knowledge that surrounds CFIN to push producers to the next level."

What you Want More of — Industry Insights, Funding Navigation and Events

The survey asked which topics and themes members want to see CFIN focus on going forward, and the answers were clear. Market trends and industry insights topped the list at 62 percent, followed closely by funding navigation and investment readiness at 60 percent. Nearly half of respondents also flagged SME productivity and technology adoption, practical how-to content for innovators, and case studies featuring behind-the-scenes innovation stories.

Regulatory and compliance navigation came in at 43 percent, and 40 percent of members want more content on AI and digital transformation — a signal that the sector is beginning to grapple seriously with how these tools fit into food production and business operations.

One Ontario-based member echoed a theme we heard across multiple responses: the desire for "diversity of articles and content to cover all aspects of the food industry, including service providers to producers," along with "a greater focus on changes to the regulatory aspect and improving relationships with regulators."

Members also told us they want more connectivity. Requests for networking, matchmaking between members, and events that bring together startups and established players came through consistently.

Member Satisfaction Grows with Time

One pattern worth highlighting: members who have been with CFIN for three or more years reported significantly higher satisfaction than those in their first year, and that trend held across regions and industries. The longer members stay engaged, the more value they tend to find — which suggests the network compounds over time in ways that perhaps aren't always obvious early on.

What's Coming in 2026

Your feedback is already shaping what we're building.

Next week, we're launching something new: CFIN Sightline, a quarterly brief designed to provide members with market trends, industry insights, and strategic context that 62 percent of survey respondents told us they want more of. The first edition covers supply chain resilience, physical AI adoption in food manufacturing, commercialization strategies for novel ingredients, and more.

On the events and programming side, we're building an expanded calendar of webinars and in-person events throughout 2026 — more than we've ever run before. Next up is Tech Adoption in Action on May 28, a live webinar going inside Mode40 and Nonsuch Brewing's rollout of AI-driven production scheduling on the brewery floor. It's the kind of practical, behind-the-scenes session that many of you wanted to see. Expect more webinars like this, alongside more opportunities to gather in person through the coming year.

Finally, YODL is getting a significant update later this year to make the platform more intuitive, engaging, and useful for members. That’s about all we can share for now, but we think you’re going to love it. Stay tuned for more.

To the 439 members who took the time to respond to this survey — thank you. Every event, program, publication, and platform improvement we have in the works is being informed by what you shared. We're incredibly excited about what’s coming next for CFIN, and we're looking forward to building it alongside you.