This text is part of the special Research section
Bringing competing companies together around the same table with researchers to innovate: this is the challenge that the Food Processing Research and Innovation Consortium (RITA) at McGill University has been focusing on since 2017. And it works.
“There is industry that has challenges to overcome, and researchers who have solutions,” summarizes Salwa Karboune, Associate Dean of the Department of Food Sciences and Agricultural Chemistry at McGill University and Scientific Director of the RITA consortium. . “Each challenge is seen as an opportunity to innovate. “
It is from this idea that Mme Karboune and his colleagues have already brought together more than 150 agri-food companies and more than 20 research establishments in the province to create various creative networks, upstream of the competition on the market. According to the researcher, setting up one of these networks can take a year. During this period, the industrial partners will describe the difficulties they face, then researchers will propose projects aimed at solving them. The network will then choose the research and innovation projects in which they will invest and which can benefit participating members. The research of the consortium’s partners is funded in part by industry and in part by government sources, such as the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ).
One of the projects consists, for example, in developing an intelligent and multidimensional platform allowing the identification and selection of natural ingredients, such as spices, with their characteristics, possible uses and interactions. Would it be possible to replace an artificial microbial agent with the combination of two or three natural ingredients? This mapping, developed from a solid scientific approach, could one day constitute a scientific benchmark to answer this type of questions and facilitate the sanitation of food on our shelves.
Other projects focus on the effectiveness of more ecological methods for packaging products, such as gaseous ozone or pulsed light treatments, or even on the development of “active” packaging, which contains antimicrobial agents that prolong the shelf life of food. Other teams are looking for sustainable solutions when it comes to using cleaning water or upgrading products to reduce food loss.
The companies come from several sectors, from the bakery to the butcher, including dairy or fruit and vegetable producers. The latest network, still under construction, brings together players from the fishing and aquaculture industry. There are therefore companies from all walks of life, such as Bonduelle (industrial vegetable processing), Cascades (packaging), Gusta (vegan products), Lallemand (marketing of yeasts and bacteria), Les Moulins de Soulanges (flour) or Olymel ( meat).
“Our objective is to have a dynamic sector in research and innovation, and which understands the interest of precompetitive collaboration”, indicates the scientific director of RITA.
The advantage of synergy to innovate
Unlike basic research which requires independence of researchers, applied research aims to improve industry and ensure a circular economy, explains Salwa Karboune.
“The biofood and processing sector is a sector where the transfer [entre le milieu de la recherche et l’industrie] is essential for the development of technologies, the development of ingredients or the improvement of health products, she says. I firmly believe in the importance of synergy. “
She explains that small and large companies are united in the same networks, which allows young companies with small budgets to have access to and contribute to technological innovation, just like the heavyweights in the industry. . Likewise, by collaborating with specialists from other disciplines, researchers can increase their creativity to innovate.