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Going Global: Opportunities for Canadian Food Innovators in Europe

By Community Manager posted 06-11-2025 11:00

  

This post is part of our weekly spotlight on each market featured in Going Global: A Market Guide for Canadian Food Innovators. This week, we’re heading to the European Union. 

The EU’s regulatory and market environment continues to evolve quickly—especially in areas like sustainability, traceability, and packaging. With ambitious targets under the Green Deal, mandatory climate and environmental reporting, and increasingly strict packaging and labelling rules, the pressure is on across the food sector. For Canadian companies with credible, compliance-ready solutions, this complexity creates opportunity. 

The EU is an especially strong market for companies in digital traceability, circular packaging, clean-label functional ingredients, and waste reduction. Canada’s trade access through CETA also facilitates key advantages like tariff-free trade on most food products, streamlined documentation, and mutual recognition in key categories like organic goods. 

But navigating the EU market isn’t always straightforward. Regulatory approval—especially for novel ingredients—can be slow, and market fragmentation means companies often need to go country by country. 

The full Going Global guide includes insights on: 

  • Trade and market access, including CETA benefits and what to know about the Novel Food approval process 

  • Priority innovation areas where Canadian companies are well-positioned to lead 

  • Key in-market networks, like the Enterprise Europe Network, that can help Canadian innovators connect, partner, and scale 

Want the full picture? Download the guide here and explore where your solutions fit in the EU market.