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.
Mission: To solve industry research and development needs, remove barriers to innovation for small- and medium-sized businesses and help them gain a competitive edge, and to advance the food processing and agri-food industry.
Focus: CRI is the only research facility amongst Ontario’s colleges specializing in nutritional and shelf-life testing for product development and validation. The facility also includes the Centre for Applied Research and Innovation in Biotechnology (CARIB) to help emerging agri-food businesses launch new food, beverage and cannabis products.
Services: CRI’s laboratory facilities offers proof-of-concept product development, product testing, nutritional labelling, shelf-life testing, bioextraction of plant materials, batch and continuous fermentations, analysis of proteins, fats and carbohydrates and analysis of minerals such as iron and calcium, emulsions, bioextractions and purification, spray drying, flash chromatography, heavy metals testing, and cannabinoid and terpene testing.
What you need to know: The CRI includes a research team with industry experience, partnerships with industry associations and member groups to access further support, as well as access to funding resources.
Notable News: CRI has worked with many local and national companies to produce orM improve food and beverage products, including Aspire Food Group, Geissberger Farmhouse Cider, and Booch Organic Kombucha.