Conferences

With AI mainstreaming, will we still need marketing departments?
Get ready to experience the future of food and drink marketing! Join us for a cutting-edge presentation on the rise of AI and its impact on the industry.
Discover how AI is transforming marketing, from SEO to Social Media, from copywriting to packaging design, from content creation to customer segmentation.
Don’t miss your chance to see live demonstrations of AI in action and learn about the potential changes to the role of marketing in the food and drink industry.

The discussions will focus on the growing opportunities of the sector as well as the challenges of developing this new sector.

As both a victim of and contributor to climate change, the global food industry is under tremendous pressure to feed more and more people without degrading the natural resources it uses. Among the solutions currently explored, the most promising seem to be the most ambitious: those that succeed in regenerating ecosystems, not just protecting them. Could this be the lifeline the industry needs to secure its future and meet present and future food needs? We will explore this question with three experts actively working in this direction.

More than ever, corporations are recognizing the social and economic benefits of diversifying their supply chains. Some of these corporations now even have procurement staff with annual objectives for supplier diversity. During this session, you will gain an understanding of supplier diversity, how becoming a certified supplier can support your business, what is needed to gain access to these suppliers from a corporate perspective, and how to source suppliers.

It can be difficult to stand out online when so much content is accessible by consumers, which is why it’s more important than ever to invest in your social media. We will discuss the benefits of building a branded community in the food industry and suggest tools to leverage your own engaged community on social media, to help grow your brand online.

Precision fermentation provides an innovative opportunity for food product developers to enhance the nutritional, flavour, functional, and texture profiles of products with a complex and distinct diversity of ingredients and applications. As consumers seek clean and healthy labels along with the satisfying experience of delicious and satiating foods and beverages, fermentation applications are making their mark as an important partner in product development.

Over the past 10 years, we have seen positive consumer sentiment toward sustainability and anticipated that purchasing preferences would drive the industry toward a green revolution. But a combination of challenges has slowed progress and led to a situation where consumers and companies have not driven the change anticipated. Now, three emerging drivers are creating an outlook of rapid change across the next 5-10 years that will force companies to transform and commit to real sustainable business models. Please join NielsenIQ to learn how consumer sentiment is evolving around sustainability – and how retailers and brands have a role to play.

Join COTA’s Executive Director, Tia Loftsgard, who will provide the latest consumer insights, organic sales, production and trends that keep organic continuing to grow at record pace.

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois will deliver a thought-provoking seminar at SIAL on the topic of food innovation and the disruptive forces for the food industry. He will discuss how supply chains are being transformed by new technologies and how this is impacting the economy, inflation, and ultimately, the way we eat. Dr. Charlebois will provide an honest reality check for the food industry, exploring both the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. He will challenge the status quo, asking difficult questions about the industry’s sustainability, social responsibility, and ethical practices. Attendees can expect to be inspired and challenged to think differently about the future of food and their role in shaping it.

This session will explore the steps needed for both Canadian and non-Canadian companies to enter and maintain long term successes in the U.S. market. Marie Sweeney of Quality Smart Solutions will share her hands-on experience with the FDA in the USA to help companies navigate U.S. food compliancy, while Bojan Opsenica of SelectUSA will provide an overview of resources and best practices to ensure success. The American Chamber of Commerce in Canada will also present to provide support for the flow of commerce, trade, and investment between Canada and the U.S. Attendees will gain valuable information on how to make their U.S. expansion projects a success!

As enterprises with fewer than 100 employees make up the vast majority of food companies, this panel will discuss the important decisions in the use of process and operations technologies in today’s food and beverage industry. Since there is a growing diversity of digital and technical tools to enhance one’s business, it is also essential to consider what is appropriate and relevant to your particular operation at this stage of its development. We will seek to provide greater clarity on ‘timing your tech.

Upcycling is a new term for an old concept of using food processing by-products to generate new food ingredients. Years ago, we made sausages from meat scraps and jams from overripe fruit. Today, consumers want to reduce food waste. Upcycled ingredients offer food manufacturers an innovative opportunity to create appealing, often nutritious ingredients and products for the market, while reducing food waste and supporting a circular economy.
Learn from industry leaders about their upcycling businesses and how they are finding new purposes for ingredients that would otherwise be considered waste.

Plastics are ending up in landfills, being burned and leaking into the environment. The circular economy approach for plastics endeavours to keep plastic items within a system in order to benefit the economy, society and the environment. This presentation will outline the challenges involved and how companies are approaching this effort by innovations in materials, packaging design and technologies.

The conference will focus on how organic products contribute to food security and sovereignty, and will show how “true prices” – meaning prices that include ecological after-costs – can pave the way for the necessary transformation of the food and grocery industry.

This panel brings together three thought leaders from different generations to discuss the future of food innovation. With rapidly changing consumer preferences, technological advancements, and global challenges such as climate change and food insecurity, SIAL is the perfect place to try to understand how food innovation has evolved and will continue to evolve across different generations.