Food Innovation Strategies around the Globe

There is much interest and continued discussion on “innovation”. Some of this is a result of the recently published review of federal R&D investment in Canada, and mostly, how this investment is not being transferred into new commercial products or improved technologies. Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada is in the process of defining the next policy framework, in which innovation is considered a key driver for competitiveness and adaptability for the agri-food industry.

The recent federal budget highlights support for innovation, including increased support for NRC IRAP, venture capital, Business-led Centres of Excellence, and an improved SRED tax incentive program. For the food industry specifically, some of these will be helpful. Still, we seem far behind other jurisdictions, with food manufacturing specific innovation programs to recognize the importance this sector plays in many economies. 

One example is from Hightech Europe . This organization received $3.4M EURO to create the “First European Food processing Network of Excellence”. It’s objective is to link European competencies in the food processing sector. Admittedly, they state that “excellent research has been carried out but has not always lead to substantial innovations in the market”.  This is the same worry that we hear from reviews that examine Canada’s performance with research and commercial outcomes. Other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK, and the US have also invested funds in food specific innovation strategies, granting programs, and physical infrastructure, such as the newly created $26M Food Bowl in New Zealand.

We know that the Canadian food industry is globally competitive with exports going to over 180 countries. To remain competitive and continue to grow international markets, Canada should similarly focus support on the food industry, through strategic innovation programs. While support for knowledge creation is important, support for knowledge transfer is also required – with programs that balance ideas with implementation — much like our competitors are doing now around the world.

Federal R&D Review could spark Innovation Culture

Yesterday, the independent panel tasked with reviewing federal R&D funding published its report. The panel made six key recommendations that ranged from simplifying the SR&ED tax credits, to reorganizing the National Research Council (NRC)  into collaborative centres with business, universities and provinces. Interestingly, their first recommendation was to create a new national “Industrial Research and Innovation Council”.  This is significant, as it recognizes the need to embrace innovation in the broader context.

Put simply,  innovation  is the successful implementation of a new idea, product or service. Research is an important component of innovation, particularly for radical (vs. incremental) innovation. Nonetheless, it is the commercialization of the idea, that defines innovation of any type. It’s not clear that the creation of a national council will focus on the later stages after proof of concept, but many organizations, including NRC, have articulated the need for commercial or market relevant research.  Being focussed on the commercial relevance of research will surely benefit a company’s innovation outcomes.

A second proposed benefit of having a central agency deliver R&D/Innovation funding is to make the system less complex for industry to access. It may be beneficial to also divest oversight to organizations that work closely with SMEs, that understand industry needs, and can therefore strategically target funding. A number of European and Australian R&D agencies offer “innovation vouchers” for companies to work with scientific organizations. These are much simpler to administer and are usually managed by the organization.

But beyond linking like-minded organizations and streamlining financial support, Canada needs to enhance its corporate innovation culture. It is one thing to have funding available and another for companies to understand the process of innovation, including how it will benefit their organizations,  how much is needed, where to find resources, etc. The Minister of state for Science and Technology, Gary Goodyear, recognizes that “when businesses don’t invest in research and development of new products, it will be harder for them to remain competitive and grow”. However, suggesting that industry should invest in more R&D doesn’t make it happen overnight.  Aside from research other components are needed  for successful innovation, including support for: scale-up and technology transfer, business and market intelligence, proof of commercial relevance along with access to capital at earlier stages of commercialization.

Overall, the recommendations seem practical and a more focussed approach through a central council with the development of a clear federal voice will hopefully lead to recognition of the culture needed to ultimately help Canada improve its innovation success.

Creating Food Innovation Systems

Currently, there is a groundswell of discussion going on about the food industry. Much is arms-length in that it is not tied specifically to any one company, but rather, by organizations and individuals that are aligned with food processors. This includes the Conference Board of Canada/Food Centre, the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, the Agri-Food Innovation & Regulatory Chair, Canadian Food Processing Industry roundtable, various food industry associations, and a handful of interested individuals, in addition to the government of Canada through various departments and agencies.

What’s the basis of all this activity? The short answer is ‘innovation”. While this may not seem surprising, the timing is interesting. Recently, food manufacturing became the number one manufacturing industry in Canada, for both sales and employment. This, in itself, is a significant milestone and worthy of discussion. However, if the industry is number one in Canada, why all the concern about innovation now?

It seems that people are realizing that the systems we have been utilizing to “help” industry innovate in Canada, may not be fully complete. Innovation can effect all areas within a company and thus impacts productivity, competitiveness and sustainability. All good reasons to shine the spotlight on how the sector innovates, and by extension, how it competes globally and how sustainable the industry will be in the long-term. 

A recent article in BioBusiness (July/Aug) suggests that the ways government invests in R&D has failed to spawn significant commercial success, according to author Rory Francis. It asserts that there are other components of the innovation ”system”, including market assessment, technology transfer, access to capital, HR capacity, regulatory environment and more, which have to be well-developed  and well-connected to capture the economic potential of research.

Developing effective innovation systems is where concerned industry supporters, including governments, need to focus. While investment in research to spawn new products or processes has been well supported, the translation of research and novel technologies has been less than stellar. According to many well accepted definitions, innovation includes not only the generation of the idea, but its successful implementation. Supporting implementation is where our innovation systems are incomplete.  

FOODTECH Canada in aligned with these discussions, and wants to develop programs that can put more connected, networked systems in place for the food industry. This would bring expertise in the above areas, such as market intelligence, technology transfer practices, and infrastructure, along with scientific capital, to the doorstep of processors. We encourage a continued dialogue on how to make these linkages and systems operational in Canada. Many other countries have this figured out, and now its Canada’s time.