The Food Professor

Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois welcome back Michael Graydon, CEO of FHCP, for a deep dive into Canada’s food manufacturing sector. The wide-ranging conversation explores regulatory burdens, access to capital, retail consolidation, and trade uncertainty. Graydon highlights the growing divide between large and small manufacturers and the importance of the Grocery Code of Conduct. In the news, government policy shifts with the new Liberal majority, the amazing innovative work of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, positive fuel tax implications, food price dynamics, supply chain developments, and the growing divide in Canada’s “K-shaped economy,” celebrating a key role in restaurants, a Vancouver restaurant that epitomizes the bespoke tin seafood TikTok trend and former NFL star Laurent Duvernay-Tardif purchasing a Montreal bakery.

In this episode of The Food Professor Podcast, Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois welcome Stéphane Thuillier, CEO of SIAL Canada, to discuss the global influence of food trade shows, emerging innovation trends, and Canada’s growing role in the international food ecosystem. The episode also explores key food industry news, including the lasting impacts of the Iran war as it winds down on food prices, maple syrup fraud in Quebec, Kit Kat caper, and the early effects of front-of-pack labelling on Canadian consumer behaviour.

Jamie Nelson, President of Pattison Food Group, joins Sylvain and Michael for a rare inside look at one of Canada's largest western grocery enterprises — nearly 30,000 employees, 308+ stores, and 11 banners. Nelson shares his take on consumer trends, supply chain realities, AI adoption, private label growth, and Buy Canadian sentiment. Plus: the hosts break down the NDP's grocery store proposal, the McCormick-Unilever mega-merger, Sysco's Restaurant Depot acquisition, and Alberta's new whisky designation.

In this episode of The Food Professor Podcast, Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois interview Rob Kelly, Chief Commercial Officer at IKEA Canada, exploring the company’s global food study, evolving menu innovation, and the surprising scale of its food business, including 70 million meatballs sold annually. The episode also covers key food news, including rising fuel costs impacting prices, Manitoba’s move to eliminate PST on groceries, and major investments shaping Canada’s food manufacturing sector, and the lost opportunity of the hotel minibar.

In this episode of The Food Professor Podcast, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois examine the forces squeezing Canadian consumers, from geopolitical tensions in Iran driving food price inflation to the carbon tax's contested ripple effects through the supply chain impacting the cost of groceries. The second half features Brent Cantor, President of Cardinal Meats, reflecting on 60 years of innovation in protein, food safety, and plant-based proteins. This episode is dedicated to Edward Pottinger, co-founder of The Real Jerk, who passed away last week.