Canadian's Food Priorities, Food Fights in Parliament, and guest Kristina Farrell, CEO, Food and Beverage Canada - Aliments et boissons Canada

The Food Professor

In the final live episode of The Food Professor podcast for 2023, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Sylvain Charlebois discussed various Canadian food and beverage industry topics. While the interview with our guest Kristina Farrell, CEO of Food and Beverage Canada, was a significant part of the episode, the hosts delved into various other vital issues.

A key topic of discussion was Canadians' New Year's food resolutions. The hosts noted a trend towards healthier eating and more home cooking, possibly influenced by recent economic challenges. They questioned whether this trend might lead to reduced patronage of restaurants, reflecting on potential impacts on the restaurant industry.

LeBlanc and Charlebois also discussed labour shortages in the food industry, particularly manufacturing. They touched on how companies, especially smaller ones, are grappling with balancing investment in technology with managing rising costs due to inflation. The conversation highlighted the industry's need for innovation to remain competitive and sustainable.

Another significant point of discussion was the evolving landscape of alcohol sales in Ontario, notably the plan to allow beer and wine sales in convenience stores. The hosts speculated on the implications of this change, including potential challenges such as increased insurance costs for retailers and the impact on consumer habits and the recycling system.

The dialogue also covered broader industry trends and challenges, including the importance of sustainability and the need for the food sector to adapt to changing consumer preferences and government policies. The hosts expressed concerns about possible isolation due to increased home consumption and the importance of social interaction in dining experiences.

In their reflections on the year, LeBlanc and Charlebois discussed the top stories and issues in the food industry, ranging from labour disruptions and supply chain challenges to policy developments affecting the sector. They concluded with positive remarks on the growth and potential of the food industry, looking forward to future developments in 2024.

Overall, the episode offered a comprehensive overview of the Canadian food and beverage industry, with insightful discussions on the sector's challenges and opportunities, policy impacts, and consumer trends.

FBC’s website: FBC – Advocating for food and beverage manufacturing businesses located in urban and rural communities across Canada. (fbc-abc.com)

FBC’s 2024 pre-budget submission: FBC-ABC.2024.Prebudget.Submission.Final_.pdf

FBC’s submission to the Pollution Prevention Planning Notice for primary food plastic packaging: FBC-ABC.P2Notice.Submission.30Aug2023.pdf

FBC on Twitter and LinkedIn (I would like to think I know all of these off the top of my head, but again – team of 1.2):

Twitter: @FoodBevCanada

LinkedIn: LinkedIn

Me on Twitter and LinkedIn:

Twitter: @krisprou

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kristina-farrell-proulx-b09ba549

About Us
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.

He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.

Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre’s Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa.

About Michael

Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Today's Shopping Choice and Pandora Jewellery.

Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. ReThink Retail has added Michael to their prestigious Top Global Retail Influencers list for 2023 for the third year in a row.

Michael is also the president of Maven Media, producing a network of leading trade podcasts, including Remarkable Retail , with best-selling author Steve Dennis, now ranked one of the top retail podcasts in the world.

Based in San Francisco, Global eCommerce Leaders podcast explores global cross-border issues and opportunities for eCommerce brands and retailers.

Last but not least, Michael is the producer and host of the "Last Request Barbeque" channel on YouTube, where he cooks meals to die for - and collaborates with top brands as a food and product influencer across North America

The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle.

About Us

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.

He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.

Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre’s Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.

Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.

Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.

Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.