SIAL Innovation

Xavier Terlet is the President and Founder of XTC World Innovation.

Xavier Terlet began his career in the French retail industry working for the Carrefour Group in 1983.

In 1988 he created the company “Nouveaux produits Nouveaux Marchés” which later became XTC World Innovation.

His firm is one of the world’s leaders in food innovation monitoring, studies and consulting.

XTC world innovation also provides analyses and studies on the evolution and trends of the food markets, which are a reference in terms of innovation decisions.

Xavier Terlet is Sial’s innovation expert. In 1996, he created the first “Trends & Innovations Area” for SIAL Paris in France, whose success has since spread to SIAL Canada, SIAL China and more recently to SIAL Middle East, SIAL Brazil and finally, this year, to SIAL ASEAN.

Xavier Terlet is the author of “Drôles de Goût” Ed Glénat. He is preparing another book to share his experience of food innovation trends.

Professionnelle de la nutrition, du marketing alimentaire et de la communication cumulant plus de 20 ans d’expérience, Isabelle Marquis possède un savoir-faire multidisciplinaire unique acquis à la fois en agence-conseil et en entreprise de transformation alimentaire. Reconnue pour sa grande rigueur, sa passion contagieuse ou encore sa créativité stratégique, Isabelle est aussi une communicatrice hors pair qui sait inspirer autant que mobiliser.

En tant que directrice marketing, Grande distribution et HRI au sein du Groupe Première Moisson Inc., elle fut responsable de nombreux projets d’innovation et de lancements de produits, en plus de contribuer activement au développement des affaires sur les marchés canadien et américain. Aujourd’hui à son compte, madame Marquis accompagne des entreprises de toutes tailles du secteur alimentaire québécois et canadien en stratégie de communication, de marketing et d’innovation. Ambassadrice Innovation pour SIAL Canada depuis 2018, elle collabore également auprès de magazines spécialisés et à l’émission L’épicerie sur Ici Radio-Canada Télé.

Jo-Ann has spent her career building consumer and retail brands at Molson, Procter and Gamble, Unilever and Cadillac Fairview.

As Division President of Molson Coors and a member of its North American Management Board, Jo-Ann led the charge to sell more beer more profitably.
As founding partner and president of Nourish Food Marketing, Jo-Ann now builds powerful food and beverage brands in Canada, the United States and Europe, developing marketing strategies that help move products from the shelf to the consumer’s shopping cart, to their plate and to their heart.

She has worked with entrepreneurs to launch award-winning products and with municipal, provincial and federal agencies to create programs that support the Canadian food industry. She has also been an instructor at the Schulich Executive School of Business, FoodStarter (a food incubator), and the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada and the Association of Canadian Advertisers.

Jo-Ann is the Founding Chair of the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada, Past President of the Empire Club of Canada, where she has hosted leaders from around the world, and Past President of ABC Life Literacy Canada. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Chapter of the Dames d’Escoffier.

At a young age, Lyne was already passionate about food. After obtaining her diploma in Dietetics and beginning her studies in Food Science and Technology, she quickly dives into the world of the food industry, developing expertise in food production and processing, quality assurance and R&D.
Her professional skills and business acumen lift her to senior management positions, both in the food industry and in food service companies. She thus forged a unique expertise in agrifood, business development and communication, then founded in 2008 the media and event firm EDIKOM, well known in the biofood universe in Canada.
In 2011, she launched the DUX Eat Better, Live Better program to encourage all players in the food chain, consumers and businesses, to be leaders in healthy eating.

Jordan LeBel is a full professor in the Marketing Department at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, where he teaches food marketing and marketing courses in the MBA program. Jordan is interested in communication strategies and innovation marketing. As a certified board member, he is also interested in governance issues, reputational risk, and public health in the agri-food industry. He has worked on and published research on food choices including comfort foods, service management and marketing, design and experience marketing, retailing, and consumer education strategies. Jordan was a pioneer in online education and has won several awards for the quality of his teaching and leadership in education, including the 3M Teaching Fellowship awarded to the best university professors in Canada. Jordan has taught restaurant management in Norway, Switzerland, Austria, and the United States. He has conducted seminars and training sessions at the Procter & Gamble Ideation Centre, the Boeing Leadership Centre, and the Leadership Institute. Jordan is involved in the Quebec agri-food sector and is a member of the Scientific Committee on Obesity Prevention at the National Institute of Public Health. He has been a columnist for publications such as Commerce and Le Must, and has appeared on television and radio programs including Salut Bonjour! (TVA), Homerun (CBC radio), and Christiane Charrette’s show (Radio Canada). He regularly shares his expertise and enthusiasm with various food companies, large and small, such as Groupe BEL, Quaker, Campbell’s Soup, and Cadbury.

Marie-Noëlle Cano is President of C A N O Collective Intelligence Inc. a consulting firm founded following 20 years advising leaders of major Quebec and Canadian companies in the agri-food, restaurant, food retail and energy sectors. Marie-Noëlle’s multi-sector along with local, national and international (25 countries) experience, and her ability to capitalize on the talents of the teams she works with, make her a seasoned expert and reference for the executives she collaborates with. Over the course of her career, she has held numerous management positions that have led her to pilot large-scale, differentiating projects in corporate strategy, communications and sustainability.
In 2021, CTAQ, a Québec regional association for the food manufacturing industry, called on her expertise as a consultant to launch and develop an essential initiative for Quebec: Amélioration alimentaire Québec (AAQ), in order to encourage Quebec food industry decision-makers to increase the supply of products with improved nutritional value.
Marie-Noëlle sits on various boards and committees, including the Fondation Initia –promoting succession planning in the food industry, and Ottawa University’s Bourse Marlène-Cano, supporting women’s rights. She holds degrees in business management and public relations (HEC Montréal Business School), as well as a recent diploma in Catalan language and literature from the Université de Montréal.

With over 30 years of experience in the food industry, Mr. Cech is a specialist in innovation and marketing strategy at the Canadian level.

He has held several key positions in the industry, including:

Product Development Manager for Metro’s private brands, including the launch of the Irrésistible brand
Senior Director, Development and Quality Control at Tomasso-Cordon Bleu Foods
Executive Director of Sales and Marketing for Fleury-Michon North America
In 2011, he founded Momentum Foods, a pan-Canadian food brokerage firm specializing in innovation and business development support as well as sales and marketing for perishable retail products. Mr. Cech has worked with all major Canadian food retail banners in the development of innovative products and their marketing.

Zoraide Bentellis holds a PhD in enzymatic engineering, microbiology and food bioconversion. She also holds a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in food science and technology.

A professor-researcher for over 20 years, Zoraide Bentellis has developed technical and university training programs. She has also participated in numerous applied research projects.

Currently at the helm of ITEGA, Zoraide Bentellis and her team work to support companies in their development and integration of new technologies for processing, stabilizing and packaging food products in a context of eco-design and by-product valorization.

Tyson MacInnisTyson MacInnis est une société de conseil basée à l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard, se spécialise dans le mentorat des innovateurs dans le domaine de l’alimentation et des boissons en ce qui concerne la création d’un modèle d’entreprise, les marchés cibles et la manière d’étendre avec succès leurs entreprises entrepreneuriales. 

Tyson est titulaire d’un MBA de l’université de Dalhousie, avec une spécialisation en commerce international et une mineure en finance et marketing. Il a plus de 20 ans d’expérience dans l’aide à la croissance des innovateurs alimentaires. Il a été directeur du développement des entreprises chez Food Island Partnership. À ce titre, il a dans ce rôle, il a a identifié les possibilités d’améliorer les aides telles que la le financement de démarrage et, grâce à une approche collaborative, il a dirigé la mise en place d’un concours de création d’entreprises alimentaires, d’un programme de mentorat pour les accélérateurs alimentaires et d’une installation de mise à l’échelle des aliments, et il a organisé le premier événement Food Automation Atlantic.

Tyson s’appuie sur son expérience de la commercialisation de produits alimentaires, de fondateur de petite entreprise et de conseiller en développement économique pour répondre aux besoins de l’industrie canadienne de l’innovation en matière d’aliments et de boissons. Il aime aider les nouvelles entreprises novatrices du secteur des aliments et des boissons à obtenir les conseils, les relations et le financement dont elles ont besoin pour prospérer.