This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
What secrets are hidden behind the most ingenious food products on the market, some of which have become classics in our recipes? And how do we distinguish them through the plethora of new products launched each year? To find out, we interviewed the Innovation president of the Canadian jury of the International Food Show (SIAL), which will take place in Montreal from April 20 to 22, as well as one of the ten finalists for the SIAL Innovation 2022 awards.
Fine oils and vinegars, specialty flours, insect-based energy bars, ready-to-cook world sauces, non-alcoholic beers, vegan ice creams; all these novelties and hundreds of thousands of others have been presented over the years at SIAL, a professional food show created in 1964 which today has eight seats around the world: Paris, Shanghai, Jakarta, Abu Dhabi, New Delhi, Algiers, as well as Toronto and Montreal, which present the event alternately in North America each year.
For Isabelle Marquis, a communication and food marketing specialist who has been working with SIAL since 2008 and has chaired the SIAL Innovation awards jury since 2018, this is simply an unmissable event.
“It’s an event that brings together all the food sectors, which is a great showcase of what is happening on the international scene and which presents continuous conferences and round tables. In short, I am updating myself there and always learning a lot of things. I love that ! she says.
A jury in search of inspiration
Judging the innovative nature of a food product is not as simple as one might think at first sight. “It’s both an exciting mission and one that takes on a great responsibility, because you have to distinguish the most inspiring new products on the market,” says the expert.
Indeed, only three award-winning local innovations then have the chance to be presented in other SIAL events, alongside others of European, Indian, Asian origin…
It’s quite a springboard, which obviously attracts a lot of candidates. Mme Marquis preselects about thirty, which are then evaluated by a jury of professionals from various backgrounds. Ten finalists emerge from this analysis, including three big winners. How are they determined? “We study them from four angles, explains Isabelle Marquis: the recipe and the composition, the transformation processes, the packaging and packaging, and finally, the marketing positioning. We are not here to predict their commercial potential, which may vary from one continent to another, but the degree of inspiration they will generate in the market. »
Canadian Innovations
The 10 products highlighted for 2022 stand out for several reasons. Some of them, such as vegetable proteins, are the direct reflection of major trends found elsewhere in the world. “There is so much to do in this niche! » emphasizes Mr.me Marquis, who gives the example of Tempehine, a new range of three tempehs that are organic, local and (well, some would say) accessible to everyone, because they are ready to use and offered in several flavors.
Another fundamental movement affects products whose principle is based on sustainable development. This is the case with GroundUp flours and cooking mixes, which come from upcycling, that is to say from the recovery of ingredients normally rejected… such as coffee grounds! But this product has a serious competitor in Paramo Snacks, which has made it its mission to preserve the ecosystem of the Paramos region of British Columbia, promote local organic products and create jobs by designing a line of chips made from beets and yacon (the cousin of Jerusalem artichoke).
SIAL’s selection also incorporates pure innovations that shake up the ideas that we can have of certain foods. This category includes coffee aged in microbrewery oak barrels (and offered in a can) from Brûleries Faro, an oil named Signé Caméline and roasted, whose taste is reminiscent of sesame, as well as a range of sauces bars that reinvent the genre, the Bar to Cook.
Immerse yourself in the creative universe of The Foodie Family
In the Lahrichi family, innovative food concepts, we know that. Véronique, the mother, is a creative biochemist. His son, Kamil, is a marketing expert and Nadia, his daughter, a culinary business development specialist. We already owe the three members of this Foodie Family, from the name of their company, the Canadian marketing of Food Crayons, spice crayons in 24 varieties, which can be added to sauces, soups, dishes, desserts, and even cocktails, in a fun and tasty way.
The Bar to Cook product, which the Lahrichis have been working on for two years, will be previewed at SIAL in Montreal, before being launched on the market in June. Pushing back the art of the traditional Knorr cube and dehydrated, jarred or canned sauces, these totally natural bars made with deodorized cocoa butter, organic vegetable powders and organic spices are very surprising.
Why ? Because they look like chocolate bars that you cut into squares depending on what you want to use them for. “You just have to brown the main ingredients, add the bar, melt it with liquid, simmer for 20 minutes. And hop ! You get a dish with sauce or a soup meal for four, ”explains Nadia Lahrichi.
Will The Foodie Family be one of the three winners of the SIAL Innovation 2022 competition? We will have to wait until April 20 to find out!