Canada has an extensive range of research centres, food incubators, accelerators and labs supporting food and beverage innovation through the research they do and/or the services they offer. Each week throughout 2023, we’ll be highlighting an organization that’s supporting food innovation in Canada.
Name: The Verschuren Centre for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment
Location: Sydney, NS.
Focus: The Verschuren Centre is an independent, not-for-profit clean technology development and deployment facility offering a collaborative space that allows clients to advance technology cost-effectively, while having the support required on the path to commercialization.
Mission: To improve food security, provide measurable economic development, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to meet transition by 2030 goals.
Services: The centre covers the areas of bio manufacturing, bio marine, bio agriculture, energy systems, carbon transformation, bio polymer, and aquaculture. Services include rapid process and media optimization, process control and parameter identification, process characterization, analytical testing and process development, energy net-zero mapping, polymer extrusion and processing, material/product characterization, and training in lab equipment, fermentation, and extraction.
What you need to know: The facility includes biosafety level 1 and level 2 labs, fully equipped analytical suite, pilot plant facility with scale up to 1,000 L with downstream processing, marine extraction facility with scale up to 6,000 L with extraction, a plant growth room with controlled environment for agricultural trails, and a 30 x 60-ft. pilot greenhouse with 900 sq. ft. of automatic drip irrigation. The centre is also home to one of only three bioreactors in Canada.
Notable news: The centre received $2 million in funding last year through the Canada Coal Transition Initiative – Infrastructure Fund, which together with other financing will go towards expanding its lab facility and increasing its bioreactor capacity by 10 times. The facility currently works with more than 40 companies to develop bioeconomy and green energy innovations. Notable clients include Ardra Inc., New Dawn Enterprises, Reazent, and alterBiota.
Get involved: Contact the Verschuren Centre at info@verschurencentre.ca, or reach out to our Regional Innovation Director for Atlantic Canada, @TysonMacInnis.
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