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Each Friday we’ll bring you a roundup of news from CFIN, YODL and around the food world.  

As seen on YODL 

Check out this week’s most viewed discussions: 

• New SDTC Seed Funding Winners announced, with a few CFIN members! | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) 
• Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) at my local Loblaws supermarket | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) 

• Fermentation Expertise abounds in Quebec! | Open Forum (cfin-rcia.ca) 

Around the Food World 

• BioEnterprises’ FoodShift Program is now accepting applications from Ontario-based food businesses looking for funding to adopt clean technology projects. 

• Researchers at Oxford University in England have established a rating method to help food companies better measure their environmental impact. 
• Shorr’s The 2022 Sustainable Packaging Consumer Report reveals that 76% of US consumers are making an effort to purchase more sustainable products. 
• A coalition of plastics manufacturers is challenging the government’s single-use plastics ban. 

Did you know? 

A new study from WorkJam shows that businesses across all industries are currently more concerned with labour issues than supply chain challenges. The study of executives worldwide in 21 industries found that: 

• 48% of respondents said labour shortages were their biggest operational concern, followed by employee turnover (31%), workplace stress (10%), and supply chain issues (nine per cent). 
• 30% said employee retention is their current top priority, followed by attracting talent (28%), upskilling staff (20%), improving operating efficiency (12%), and better customer service (seven per cent). 

• Scheduling flexibility is the number-one area respondents said employees would like to see improvements in (57%), followed by meaningful work (54%), compensation (53%), schedule predictability (49%), growth (46%), company culture (45%), and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives (17%). 
• Respondents said pay increases (60%) and perks (50%) are the top two ways companies are trying to improve retention, while 41% cited sharing employees across locations and regions. 

For more on attracting and retaining skilled employees, check out this discussion. 

#labour
#labourchallenges