Food companies work with researchers to further innovation in Canada
Small to medium-sized Canadian food manufacturers have leveraged a funding opportunity provided by the University of Manitoba (UM) and the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) that helps access research and technical services.
The program is called Contribution to Organization (CtO) Agreement and its objective is to build and integrate innovation capacity, assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with their research needs and to create new opportunities for Canadian agricultural commodities.
The CtO offers SMEs up to $7,000 of funding to access short-term scientific or technical assistance from Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences’ researchers and to use state-of-the-art facilities and equipment at the university. The work is being carried out at several research units located at the Richardson Centre for Food Technology and Research, in the Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences (FHNS), and in the campus Dairy Pilot Plant. Together, these facilities have completed more then 60 NRC-IRAP funded projects since April 2022.
More lupin anyone?
When you visit the Bridge Drive Inn, a Winnipeg iconic ice cream stand also known as the BDI, a tasty plant-based soft ice cream is on the menu that lets you taste the results of UM research and the CtO program. The soft ice cream is made from locally sourced sweet lupin, an edible pulse crop, like peas or beans, that contains high protein and dietary fibre, and is a source of essential nutrients. An emerging commercial pulse crop in North America, lupin offers significant economic, environmental and health benefits plus a smooth and creamy texture and appealing flavour. Dairy plant manager John Thoroski developed the ice cream along with BDI and Lupin Platform Inc, a Calgary-based agri-business which is developing vertically integrated lupin supply chains that span cultivation to processing and seek to create a market for lupin ingredients in North America.
High quality flour ingredients for baking
The Faculty is also home to research units which are equipped with facilities that can assist SMEs as they explore topics in baking science. Ingredients that are used in baking require extensive testing to ensure they are suitable to make products like bread. The CtO program enabled Manitoba’s Prairie Flour Mills Ltd, a company started by Manitoba farmers, to partner with FAFS researchers to test the chemical and compositional properties of its ingredients as part of its product development process. By studying the ingredients, Prairie Flour Mills Ltd. is gaining a better understanding of the characteristics of the ingredients and how they will behave during processing. This type of research ensures food processing systems like baking are efficient, productive, create less waste, are profitable and add to the sustainability of food production on the Prairies.
Leaders in food processing research
Researchers and support staff at FHNS, RCFTR, and the Dairy Pilot Plant are at the forefront of food processing research. UM scientists specialize in key areas such as grain and oilseed processing—covering oil pressing, seed dehulling, milling, and dry fractionation—as well as dairy processing within provincially regulated facilities. Additionally, the research units bring expertise in cooking extrusion, ingredient testing, human nutritional and sensory analysis, and more. With support and funding from the NRC-IRAP’s CtO program, UM researchers collaborate with Canadian SMEs to advance research in food ingredient testing, processing, and applications.
Tristan Choi with Lupin Platform notes that one of the keys to the success of the program is how UM researchers work quickly to provide timely, quality and commercializable research to SMEs. He added that application process is very efficient, consisting of a two-page application form and a one-week application review time.
For more information, contact Dr. Nazim Cicek at agresearch@umanitoba.ca.