Minister Bibeau announces Food Waste Reduction Challenge semi-finalists for the Novel Technologies Streams

OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 20, 2022 /CNW/ - Today, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, announced the 18 semi-finalists selected under the Novel Technologies Streams to find new solutions to food waste. Minister Bibeau met virtually with the semi-finalists and listened to their innovative food waste reduction solutions.

Every year, over half of Canada's food supply is wasted, and nearly $50 billion of that wasted food is avoidable.

The Challenge, launched in November 2020, aims to deliver high-impact solutions to food waste in Canada. The Novel Technologies Streams is focused on technological solutions to food waste to extend the life of perishable food, transform food waste and accelerate their advancement in the Canadian market.

With the Government of Canada's investment for this initiative under the Food Policy for Canada, the second round of the Challenge attracted 238 applications from innovators across Canada and around the world. The 18 semi-finalists' entries span a diverse range of areas including green chemistry to create natural additives, edible coatings, or bioplastics.

Each semi-finalist will receive $100,000 and move on to the prototype development stage of the Challenge. Over the next eight months, semi-finalists will build or complete an existing prototype of their technology and report on their solution's effectiveness. A total of six finalists for the Novel Technologies Streams will be selected, each receiving up to an additional $450,000, with finalists competing to win one of two grand prizes of up to $1 million.

For the list of the Novel Technologies Streams' semi-finalists, please see the Backgrounder or visit the Food Waste Reduction Challenge website.

Quote

"The Food Waste Reduction Challenge is bringing together innovators from across the country who have new ideas and perspectives for creating a more sustainable food system in Canada. Every submission received has tremendous potential to help tackle the problem of food waste head on. I would like to congratulate all the semi-finalists and wish them best of luck as they compete in the next phase of the Challenge."
-       The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

Quick Facts

• According to estimates, more than half of Canada's food supply is wasted annually and nearly $50 billion of that wasted food is avoidable. By encouraging more solutions to food waste in Canadian society, we can increase food availability, save consumers and businesses money and strengthen our food systems, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• Entries were evaluated against established criteria, including potential volume of food waste reduction, level of innovation and scalability as well as environmental, social and economic benefits.
• An External Review Committee, composed of subject matter experts from a diverse range of backgrounds, plays an important role in reviewing solutions and recommending winners at each stage of the Challenge.
• Under the Food Waste Reduction Challenge's Business Model Streams, 24 semi-finalists were selected in May 2021. Each semi-finalist in the Challenge's first cohort received $100,000 and is moving on to compete in the market demonstration stage of the Challenge. This is the second and final cohort of the $20-million Food Waste Reduction Challenge, an initiative under the Food Policy for Canada.
• The Food Waste Reduction Challenge is part of the first-ever Food Policy for Canada, which serves as a roadmap for a healthier and more sustainable food system in Canada. It is a vision that all people should be able to access the healthy food they need in a dignified manner. 

Additional Links

Food Policy for Canada
Food Waste Reduction Challenge
Food Waste Reduction Challenge: Novel Technologies
Twenty-four innovators advance to Food Waste Reduction Challenge semi-finals

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
Web: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Backgrounder

Food Waste Reduction Challenge semi-finalists for the Novel Technologies Streams

The $20-million Food Waste Reduction Challenge was launched in November 2020 to accelerate and advance diverse and high-impact solutions to food waste in Canada. The Novel Technologies Streams focus on technological solutions to food waste to extend the life of perishable food, transform food waste and accelerate their advancement in the Canadian market.

Here are the 18 semi-finalists selected under the Novel Technologies Streams:

Recipient	Location	Solution Description
ALT TEX Inc.	Brampton, Ontario	Through its novel biomaterial fermentation technology, ALT TEX is creating biodegradable and carbon neutral textiles, re-engineered from food waste, with the aim of replacing polyester.
Aruna Revolution Health Inc.	Vancouver, British Columbia	Aruna's sustainable compostable menstrual pads and tampons are developed from processed agricultural waste (vegetable and fruit fibres) in a circular bioeconomy model.
Biopolynet Inc.	Fredericton, New Brunswick	This project's innovative BioNanoCoil technology utilizes fish processing waste to produce lobster and crab bait.
Carbon Lock Technologies Inc.	Winnipeg, Manitoba	This solution converts food waste into a stable form of biocarbon that sequesters atmospheric CO2, prevents future landfill methane emissions, and supports sustainable agriculture.
Chinova Bioworks Inc.	Fredericton, New Brunswick	Using the power of mushrooms, Chinova's clean-label solution improves the quality, freshness and shelf-life of food and beverage products which promotes the reduction of food waste from farm to fork.
Clean Works Inc.	St. Catharines, Ontario	Using a combination of hydrogen peroxide, ozone and UV, this solution will be able to control mildew and micro-organism growth in pre-harvest (greenhouses, field crops, grapevines) fruit and vegetables.
Climacteric Control Solutions, Inc.	Edmonton, Alberta	A novel series of ethylene-selective catalysts have been developed that can continuously remove trace amounts ethylene from refrigerated, humid air.
CLIMICALS	Montreal, Quebec	Local and circular valorization of sugars contained in food waste by converting them into key molecules of green chemistry to produce various biosourced plastics, among other things.
Dispersa Inc.	Laval, Quebec	By leveraging a waste-to-value production process, this solution harnesses the power of microbes to deliver natural and affordable biosurfactants derived from agro-alimentary waste.
Genecis Bioindustries Inc.	Scarborough, Ontario	Genecis engineers specialized bacteria to transform food waste into compostable bioplastics.
Laval University	Quebec, Quebec	A breakthrough invention to transform the entire by-products of dairy industries into innovative and high value-added food products by combining nutritious, natural ingredients and green technologies.
Membertou Development Corporation	Membertou, Nova Scotia	This project proposes to build capacity of Nova Scotia's grey seal industry by expanding a pilot harvest, exploring full utilization of harvested biomass, processing facilities and market opportunity.
Peak Harvest Agritech Ltd.	Toronto, Ontario	FreshXtend is a patented liquid formulation that is applied to crops by growers, and is proven to naturally slow the ripening process of fruits and vegetables.
Terra Bioplastics Inc.	Elmira, Ontario	Protina is a grain protein derived from Brewers Spent Grain that can have an outsize contribution to human nutrition.
University of Calgary	Calgary, Alberta	The project's technology converts food waste into an advanced energy saving material that can trap the heat escaping a home or building and release it when needed, generating savings in heating and cooling.
University of Lethbridge	Lethbridge, Alberta	This project evaluates the utility of commercially available silage inoculants in ensiling and extending the shelf-life of retail food waste and food processing by-products for animal feed.
WaterPuris Inc.	Cambridge, Ontario	This solution is an efficient aeration system that produces nano-sized gas bubbles that remain stable and help prevent food waste throughout the food supply chain.
Winecrush Technology Inc.	Summerland, British Columbia	Winecrush is developing a patent-pending biomechanical process to upcycle food waste from winemaking and other agriculture side streams into healthy, high performance food ingredients.

SOURCE Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Marianne Dandurand, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, [email protected], 343-541-9229; Media Relations, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 1-866-345-7972, [email protected]