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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Canada

How Tariffs Are Impacting Canadian Food Companies (and What They’re Doing About It)

Last week, I caught up with Dana McCauley, CEO of the Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN), to discuss some of the challenges facing Canadian food manufacturers amidst the abrupt and surprisingly hostile stance taken by the Trump administration towards our northern neighbors.

CFIN is a national organization dedicated to helping Canadian food and beverage businesses enhance productivity, competitiveness, and economic potential through innovation and technology adoption, and in her position as president of the organization, McCauley had a bird’s eye view on how the Canadian food companies are navigating considerable uncertainty due to shifts in trade policies, tariffs, and antagonistic rhetoric from the U.S. administration

We discussed the disruption caused by sudden policy reversals on trade agreements previously established between Canada and the U.S., and what the imposition of tariffs has meant to Canadian food companies. According to McCauley, the uncertainty forces Canadian food companies to spend extensive resources on scenario planning, detracting from productivity and innovation. McCauley pointed out that these issues are magnified in the food business compared to other industries because of the food’s unique constraints compared to other sectors, such as limited shelf life.

Another struggle for Canadian food manufacturers under the new reality is figuring out how to move forward in a business that often involves complex products that historically have integrated cross-border ingredient lists. McCauley shared the example of organic dairy products, which traditionally have included American-sourced dairy components for value-added products. McCauley said that rising tariffs and trade barriers now render these business models economically unsustainable, prompting businesses to rethink their strategies drastically.

And then there’s the hostile rhetoric from an administration of a country that Canadians have long-seen as their biggest ally. McCauley has said that the result of this rhetoric has been a strong push among consumers to “buy Canadian”. The shift to Canadian and drop American products has been swift and one has to wonder about the long-term damage that Trump is doing to the American brand in Canada and elsewhere.

I asked McCauley how CFIN is supporting Canadian companies given all the sudden changes, and she said that CFIN is actively supporting Canadian food businesses through this volatile period by advocating for enhanced domestic innovation and accelerated regulatory approvals for low-risk food technologies. She emphasized the urgency for Canadian food manufacturers to diversify markets, embrace domestic technological solutions, and leverage Canada’s extensive international trade agreements to navigate ongoing trade uncertainties effectively.

We talk about lots more, so you won’t want to miss our conversation. You can listen to my full conversation below or on The Spoon Podcast.

How Tariffs Are Impacting The Canadian Food Industry

A New Report Details Promise (and Challenges) of Canada’s Food & Ag Tech Ecosystem

The Canadian food and agtech ecosystem is experiencing significant growth, according to a new report published today by the Canadian Food Innovation Network.

The report, which dives deep into specific sectors, funding, sector sizing, key challenges and opportunities, says the Canadian agrifoodtech ecosystem lags behind global leaders in both funding and company concentration. According to the report, USD $1.6 billion has been invested in the sector since 2018, with plant-based proteins emerging as Canada’s largest food tech domain, valued at USD $1.7 billion in 2023. However, compared to its global peers, which tend to allocate just 17% of total agrifoodtech investments into agtech, Canada is a bit over-indexed in agtech with 44% of investments compared to 56% invested in food tech (56%).

Despite a total investment in food tech that is smaller relative to its global peers, the report says Canada is establishing itself as a hub for plant-based proteins, biotech-enabled functional foods, and upcycled ingredients:

“The Plant-Based sector is the most significant, comprising 26% of the Canadian food tech ecosystem (investment), compared to 14% globally. This is followed by Functional Foods & Drinks, representing 12% of companies, and Biotech/ Synthetization—primarily focused on specialty ingredients —with 7% of the Canadian food tech ecosystem. All three domains are also amongst the top five most represented globally.“

According to the report, the Canadian food and ag tech ecosystem faces key challenges relative to the US and other markets, the biggest of which is a lack of private capital. Only 40% of food tech investment rounds are backed by venture capital, compared to 60% in the UK and US. This means a heavy reliance on public grants, which comprise nearly 30% of total funding. This is much higher than in the UK (5%) and US (8%). Other challenges include limited scaling resources due to the country’s large geography and lower overall population density, a fragmented regulatory environment and lack of a national food tech strategy.

Despite these challenges, Canadian Food Innovation Network CEO Dana McCauley is optimistic about the sector’s future.

“These challenges are daunting: labour shortages, supply chain vulnerabilities, climate change, and slow rates of innovation threaten the resilience and sustainability of our food system. Yet, Canada’s foodtech ecosystem is rising to the occasion. By leveraging its unique strengths in plant-based proteins, biotech-enabled functional foods, upcycled ingredients, and beyond, the sector is driving transformative innovations that enhance sustainability, boost economic productivity, and create jobs across the country.”

If you’d like to read the full report, you can find it on the CFIN website.

Gatik Gets $9 Million (CAD) to Winterize its Autonomous Middle-Mile Delivery Tech

Gatik, which makes autonomous delivery vehicles for the middle-mile, announced today that it has received $997,706 million CAD (~$788,511 USD) from Ontario’s Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN) R&D Partnership Fun, along with $8 million CAD (~$6.32 million USD) in unspecified “industry contribution.” The new funding will go towards winterizing Gatik’s autonomous driving technology.

Gatik develops self-driving delivery trucks for the middle mile, which typically means between two points within a company’s network, e.g. between a warehouse and a store.

The Ontario government will help Gatik’s autonomous driving technology withstand inclement weather. Right now, a lot of self-driving pilots and tests happen in sunny climates such as Arizona, Texas and California. Bright, sunny weather makes it easier for self-driving vehicles to navigate because road conditions are dry and the surrounding environment is clearer for the vehicle’s systems to “see.”

But if self-driving technology is ever to reach mass market scale, it must be able to operate in all kinds of weather. Not only will autonomous vehicles need to “see” in rain and fog and snow, they will also have to safely drive on wet and icy roads. Another self-driving delivery startup that has “ruggedized” their vehicles for harsh conditions include Refraction, which operates out of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Gatik already operates a small fleet of autonomous delivery trucks in Canada. Last November, Canadian grocery chain Loblaw started using a five Gatik trucks to run food between automated picking facilities and retail stores. Gatik, which is headquarted in Palo Alto, CA, has been expanding its Canadian presence. The company recently moved into a 12,000 sq. ft. research facility in Toronto and expects to double its workforce there over the coming year. As part of its funding arrangement, AVIN will help Gatik attract and retain engineering talent in Ontario.

Last month, the company debuted its first electric delivery vehicle, which has a range of 120 miles and takes only 1.5 hours to charge. The company will also be running two delivery routes for Walmart in Arkansas and Louisina. The Arkansas route will go completely driverless (i.e., no human backup) this year, and the Louisiana route will be the first to use Gatik’s electric trucks.

Operating only within the middle mile makes it easier for Gatik to bring its autonomous driving tech to market. By focusing on the middle mile, the delivery trucks only need to navigate between two fixed points. By avoiding consumer delivery (the so-called “last mile”), Gatik limits the number of variables its trucks will encounter on a given route.

This narrow, middle-mile approach combined with winterized driving capability could give Gatik a huge boost in getting to more markets quickly.

Impossible Expands Into Canada as its Plant-Based Burger Debuts in Restaurants

Impossible Foods announced today that it is taking off to the Great White North. Starting today, the company’s plant-based burger will be available in a number of well-known restaurants across Canada. This marks Impossible’s first international expansion outside of Asia.

Impossible seems to be following the same playbook that it used to debut here in the U.S.: provide its plant-based burger to a small number of well-known restaurants first, before a broader rollout. Restaurants in Canada that are now serving Impossible include: Bymark, Maker and Patois in Toronto, Hog Shack Cookhouse in Vancouver and North & Navy in Ottowa.

According to Impossible’s press announcement, its plant-based meat will be available to all Canadian restaurants starting next month, with grocery availability to follow later this year.

Up until today, Canada was basically the domain of Impossible rival, Beyond Meat. Beyond has run a number of pilot programs in Canada including with McDonald’s, KFC, Starbucks, and Canadian staple, Tim Horton’s.

Impossible’s move into Canada caps off what has been a busy summer for both it and Beyond. Impossible quickly ratcheted up its retail presence in the U.S. through Walmart, Trader Joe’s and Kroger. It also launched a D2C channel and launched a plant-based sausage at Starbucks and Burger King in the U.S. And oh yeah, it also raised another $200 million.

For its part, Beyond Meat launched its own D2C channel as well, launched a plant-based chicken pilot with KFC in California, and expanded its presence in China.

All this expansion comes at a time when the pandemic is highlighting inequalities in the meat packing industry and spurring a surge in plant-based meat sales.

In other words, Canada will just be one of many battlegrounds around the globe where plant-based burgers duke it out.

KFC Canada to Sell Plant-based Fried Chicken for One Day Only (Tomorrow)

Today KFC Canada announced its new product, the KFC Plant-Based Fried Chicken sandwich. Launching tomorrow, November 27th, the sandwich will only be available for the day at a single KFC restaurant in Mississauga, Ontario. If sandwiches aren’t your bag, you can also try the Plant-Based Fried Popcorn Chicken bucket.

According to a press release from KFC Canada, the chain partnered with Canadian alternative Lightlife to develop its plant-based poultry offerings. The sandwich will be available regular or spicy and will cost $6.99. The popcorn chicken bucket is $3.99.

Lately Canada has been a testing ground of sorts for fast-food chains to try out plant-based meat offerings before deciding whether to bring them south of the border. At least that’s been the case with McDonald’s PLT and Wendy’s ‘The Plentiful’ burger.

In this case, however, it’s the reverse. KFC tried out plant-based chicken back in August in a similar one-day, one-location test in Atlanta. The launch drew huge crowds and the “chicken” sold out in less than five hours.

KFC Canada is clearly hoping to replicate the viral success up in the Great North. However, there are a couple of key differences. Firstly, KFC in the U.S. used plant-based chicken from Beyond Meat, while KFC Canada is tapping Canadian alternative meat company Lightlife. The Atlanta KFC also served nuggets and wings, while KFC Canada is focusing on a sandwich.

We haven’t tasted either of KFC’s plant-based chicken offerings, so it’s difficult to compare their finger-lickin-goodness levels. However, one thing to note is that KFC Canada doesn’t include the Lightlife name in its new sandwich, meaning it won’t be able to capitalize on brand recognition in the same way that the Beyond Fried Chicken did.

Customer response on the one-day trial run will determine whether the vegan chicken will be rolled out nationwide in 2020. Based off of the popularity of Beyond Fried Chicken in Atlanta and the general success of alternative meats in fast-food (barring a few notable exceptions), I’d say there’s a good chance that the KFC Plant-Based Fried Chicken Sandwich will be more than a one-day phenomenon.

Beyond Food Uses Giant Metal Pods to Turn Surplus Fruit into Vegan Protein Powder

Considering the amount of food wasted in North America (that’s 170 million tons per year), we need more people willing to get up and do something to keep all that perfectly good food from going into the landfill in the first place.

That’s exactly what Dr. Darren Burke and TJ Galiardi did a little over three years ago. The pair was discussing the absurd amount of food waste in North America’s landfills, and out of that frustration came the idea for Beyond Food (no, not affiliated with Beyond Meat). Using a cutting-edge technology developed in-house, the company rescues produce from grocery stores destined for the trash and upcycles it into consumer products.

“We asked ourselves, How could we figure out how to upcycle this potential burden on the planet, and turn it into something of high value?” Dr. Burke, CEO of Beyond Food, told me over the phone.

The Halifax, Nova Scotia-based company’s first product is a plant-based nutrition powder. It launched with Canada retailers in September of 2018. Each 30-gram scoop (one serving) contains 20 grams of protein and six servings of fruits and vegetables.

All of that protein isn’t coming just from upcycled produce; Beyond Food adds protein from pulses (think: pea protein) into their powder. As of now the company purchases the protein from a supplier, but Dr. Burke told me that eventually they hope to make their own.

A two-pound container of the powder costs $69.99 CAD ($59.99 USD) and is available in over 1,000 stores throughout Canada; the company plans to expand into the U.S. over the next few months. Currently, Beyond Food targets athletes, but they eventually want to expand outside the sports vertical and develop upcycled products for the snacks and wellness markets.

The plant-based protein powder aspect is interesting, but it isn’t really the point of Beyond Food. Dr. Burke was insistent that the company’s main technology has “much larger implications” than just making a few CPG products from old fruits and vegetables. That’s where the company’s Zero Waste Pod comes into play.

The pod is a closed-loop system: put fresh fruit and vegetables in, and it spits out dehydrated produce powder. Water extracted from the produce can be saved and used to irrigate crops. Dr. Burke wouldn’t go too far into the technical workings of the pod, but I’m imagining a higher-tech, much-bigger version of the machines in grocery stores that grind up coffee beans or peanut butter.

Beyond Food only has a prototype pod right now, but they intend to set up a fleet of pods within grocery partners’ warehouses, doing away with the need to ship fragile, almost-rotten fruit and vegetables to a central processing hub. “We have to be in the location where the waste is being produced in order to do this the right way,” said Burke.

The company will sell the pods to grocers, who will feed in their surplus produce to reduce food waste and do away with the cost of having to pay a company to truck the rotten produce to a landfill. Beyond Food will then pick up the resulting powder, though the grocer will get credits to use a percentage of the powder to either sell to one of their brands or use to develop their own white-label product, should they so choose.

Beyond Food plans to deploy its first pod in September of 2019. The company has $3 million CAD ($2.26 million US) in funding, mostly from friends and family and government support, including a $1 million raise last November.

I have to wonder about the long term viability of Beyond Food’s mission. After all, there are several companies already working to reduce waste further up the supply chain. Spoiler Alert helps food manufacturers and distributors better manage inventory to reduce waste. And on the grocer side, Farmstead and Afresh use AI to optimize fresh food stocking and reduce surplus, while over in Europe Karma and Electrolux have teamed up to install smart fridges in grocery stores to sell food destined for the landfill. If these initiatives take a large enough bite out of food waste, there might not be enough late in life produce for Beyond to make their business model viable.

Since Dr. Burke didn’t disclose pricing details, it’s hard to tell if the cost will be low enough to make the hassle of adding a large pod into a warehouse and managing it worth the extra workload for grocery companies. Then again, ReFED reported that food waste is an $18.2 billion profit opportunity for grocery retailers, so paying a price to upcycle said waste just might be worth taking some action after all.