The 19th edition of the International Food Show (SIAL Canada), which took place from April 20th to 22nd at the Palais des Congrès de Montreal, has just closed its doors on a very successful edition, after an absence of three years. SIAL Canada, despite the two years of pandemic, has once again established itself as the must-attend event for the agri-food industry in Canada.

An awaited and successful return! 

With 809 exhibitors and brands from 49 countries spread over 220,000 square feet and nearly 15,000 professional visitors from 57 countries, this edition of SIAL Canada was once again a success, both in terms of the variety of the commercial offer as well as the quality of the visitors. According to Mr. Xavier Poncin, CEO of SIAL Canada, this 2022 edition confirms the importance of this event as a source of inspiration for the entire North American industry, the best platform for doing business.

"This was by far the most complicated, but also the most successful edition in our history under the circumstances. 3 years without events, restrictions lifted 2 months before the show, a 100% new team, only 5 months of marketing and promotion is, as far as I am concerned, a successful tour de force! Our show has demonstrated its strong anchorage in the agri-food industry landscape, and this despite our absence! Indeed, we succeeded in keeping our place as a leader both in the great exhaustiveness of our offer, as well as in our high level content through our conferences, workshops and animations. We can say that our objective of "back to business face to face" has been reached, even exceeded, which would have been impossible to do without the support of our partners and exhibitors. SIAL Canada 2023, which will take place from May 9th to 11th at the Enercare Centre in Toronto, is already shaping up to be a great event.

Back to the 4 major competitions of the show:

SIAL Innovation, a key international competition in North America
On the first day of the show, in the SIAL Innovation area, the three winners were announced, and the special Sustainable Development prize was awarded in front of the press and visitors. In total, more than 40 applications were submitted this year for this 14th edition of the SIAL Innovation competition. We would like to thank all the participants and congratulate the 10 finalists for their remarkable innovations: Bruleries Faro Roasting Houses, Chocmod Canada Inc, Club Kombucha, GroundUp eco-ventures, La Presserie, Les Aliments Merjex Inc, LOC Industries Inc, Oliméga, Paramo Snacks, and The Foodie Family.

• Congratulations to GROUNDUP ECO-VENTURES for their line of flours and baking mixes made from upcycled ingredients, which won the Gold Award! Why this product? Selected as a new example of the circular economy made very accessible by turning discarded ingredients into practical, nutritious and gourmet products.

• Congratulations to MERJEX FOODS INC. for their product TEMPEHINE, a line of organic, marinated and precooked minced tempehs that won the Silver Award! Why this product? Selected for the quality of its composition and the use of a new process that makes tempeh a very versatile ready-to-use ingredient that allows you to add vegetable proteins to a wide variety of meals.

• Congratulations to LA PRESSERIE for their line of raw, unpasteurized vinaigrettes made from cold-pressed fruits and vegetables, which won the Bronze Award! Why this product? Selected for its simple and natural composition, the use of fresh ingredients and the cold pressing process that adds sophistication to the products.

• Congratulations to PARAMO SNACKS ffor their product GOOD CHIPS, organic beet and yacon chips with no added oil or sugar, which won the Special Sustainability Award! Why this product? Selected for the naturalness and authenticity of the product resulting from the origin of the ingredients, the transformation process and the manufacturer's relevant commitments to sustainable development.

A high quality official ceremony!

The event began with the official inauguration attended by many national and international dignitaries, including the Quebec Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Mr. André Lamontagne, the Vermont Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Anson Tebetts, the Mayor of Verdun and member of the Executive Committee of the City of Montreal, Mrs. Marie-Andrée Mauger, the Assistant Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Canada, Mr. Tom Rosser, the President and General Manager of Groupe Export, Mr. Martin Lavoie, the Director of the SIAL network, Mr. Nicolas Trentesaux, the President of the Board of Directors of SIAL Canada, Mr. Daniel Choquette as well as the CEO of SIAL Canada, Mr. Xavier Poncin. The Agri-Food Industry Networking Cocktail, organized by Agri-Food Export Group on the first evening of the Show, was a great success with more than 350 guests from across Canada and the United States.
Inspiring content and networking events!

This year, more than 1300 people gathered in the 36 conferences and 36 workshops offered during the show. All current topics were presented: traceability, branded content, sustainable packaging, social inclusion, local production vs. globalization, food innovations, geographical indications as well as the very current supply chain issues.                                       

A colourful event was held on the second evening of the Show: the International Cocktail brought together close to 400 industry professionals in a relaxed atmosphere under the theme of cheese and beer, proudly sponsored by Brasseurs du Monde, Corsaire, Le Bilboquet, Alambika, Stonetown Cheese, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Fromagerie l'Ancêtre and Natural Pastures. An unforgettable evening during which SIAL Canada, through its SoSIAL program, presented a cheque for $12,000 to Moisson Montreal, the largest food bank in Canada.

THE PITCH COMPETITION: On the second day of the show, at 10:00 a.m., the highly anticipated Pitch Competition took place, featuring more than 15 participants from the Start-Up Village sponsored by the City of Montreal. An innovative format, where start-ups compete against each other and have 3 minutes to seduce the jury in two categories: Food or Beverage Product and Technology or Service. This competition is particularly important to SIAL Canada and its partners, Niagara College Canada, Nielsen IQ, Mitacs, CTAQ, the City of Montreal, the City of Toronto, Nourish Food Marketing, PME MTL, Récolte and Sobeys, who want to support the succession and development of start-up companies!

• Congratulations to Prevu3D: 1st prize in the Technology or Service category 
                 
Prevu3D is a state-of-the-art software product that has a positive and critical impact on the efficiency and productivity of food or beverage processing. The product addresses current food processing and engineering requirements for continuous improvement in operations and facility design.

• Congratulations to By 2048: 1st Prize in the Food or Beverage Product category

By 2048 not only offers exceptional and unique plant-based seafood products that keep up with current food, health and clean labeling trends, but also takes a unique and clear vision, based on scientific research, to save the oceans by 2048. "The icing on the cake was the exceptional flavor and texture of the plant-based smoked salmon".

• Congratulations to Merjex Foods: 2nd place in the Food or Beverage Product category

Les Aliments Merjex offers a plant-based product called Tempehine that not only follows current trends in plantbased products and clean labeling, but also offers versatility and convenience in terms of number of applications and ease of preparation as an alternative to meat.

OLIVE D’OR
For this 16th edition of the international extra virgin olive oil competition in Canada, the jury, presided by Christine Cheylan, olive oil expert, was composed of 4 members with undisputed experience. Following the jury's deliberations, the 16 best extra virgin olive oils submitted by producers from around the world were selected to be crowned Gold, Silver, Bronze and Coup de Coeur in the Ripe Fruity, Light, Medium and Intense categories. Two special prizes, Organic and Design, were also awarded among nearly 80 olive oils from 15 countries.

The second INTERNATIONAL CHEESE COMPETITION by SIAL
Building on its success of 2019 in Toronto, this competition dedicated to cheese was the first of its kind in Montreal, with the addition of a Fresh Cheddar Curds category, to showcase the province of Quebec! The jury, chaired by M. Pretty Gurth and made up of 13 cheese industry professionals, evaluated nearly 150 cheeses from 10 countries in 20 categories.
Following the jury's deliberations, the 20 medals (1 per category), as well as the Grand Champion, were revealed in the Cheese by SIAL space. Congratulations to the Grand Champion: Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar, a Prince Edward Island cheese from COWS Creamery (also awarded Best Banded Clothbound Cheddar Cheese)!A look back at our activities :
La Cuisine by SIAL, a living space that cannot be ignored and that hosted new activities every day!

This year, La Cuisine by SIAL reinvented itself with sous-vide cooking demonstrations presented by our partner Doyon Després. Hosted by our Expert Grocerant Robert Dion, Chef Laurent Godbout accompanied by Chef Roland Bambach, highlighted the techniques and solutions to maximize the preparation of sous-vide food in two parts. The first day was dedicated to the restaurant and commercial kitchen, while the third day was dedicated to the grocery and ready-to-eat industries.

On the second day of the show, fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables from the United States were highlighted by Chef Marissa Leon-John in a cooking workshop presented by Taste USA and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

CHEESE by SIAL
On the second and third day of the show, different tasting workshops were held, pairing cheese with other local products such as Beer, Kombucha, and Maple in all its states. The pairings and associations were surprising! Thank you to our Cheese Expert Gurth Pretty for hosting these workshops, as well as a round table discussion on Cheese Company Innovation. As for David Beaudoin, Canadian Cow Cheese Ambassador for Dairy Farmers of Canada, he revealed his secrets on the art of cow's milk cheese and flavour pairing.

INSPIRE DRINK, a reflection of a new innovative sector!
During the 3 days of the show, 2 major themes were put forward on the Inspire Drink space: specialty coffee and beverages, alcoholic or not. Presented by The New Coffee Wave, the morning's theoretical and sensory workshops were dedicated to specialty coffees with David Boucher, roaster at Escape Coffee Roasters®. While our mixology expert Jean-Sébastien Michel and his team from Alambika introduced us to the world of cocktails with, among others, the Sans-Alcool trend.  Discovering new alcohols, mixology techniques and equipment that make a difference, the experience was at its peak.

SIAL Podcast, with The Food Professor
A first at SIAL Canada, the 19th edition of the show featured a space dedicated to podcasting, hosted by The Food Professor, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, Senior Director of the Food Analysis Laboratory at Dalhousie University in Halifax, and Michael LeBlanc, The Voice of Retail. The two professionals interacted with exhibitors and competition winners from Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Poland and Italy. Discussions covered topics such as the popularity of plant proteins, olive oils, vinegar, food safety, cheese trends, upcycling and new green refrigeration systems for grocers.

Exciting content to discover during the conferences.
36 high profile conferences were offered to visitors by real experts in the field: among the key topics we find the highlighting of numerous trends and market innovations in food, beverages and packaging. Many topics focused on the future and how we had to reinvent ourselves following the pandemic, with globalization vs. local, supply chains, labor shortage, but also what we can do in terms of sustainable development. A great success!

The Expert Hub - Thanks to our experts!
Once again this year, SIAL Canada was proud to welcome 14 experts from 12 sectors. Their expert advice and professional recommendations were highlighted in the Expert Hub. In this space, and during the three days of the show, it was possible to attend many panels, but also to make appointments with each of them. Thank you to our Experts for having actively participated in the success of this 19th edition! To find the complete list of experts: https://sialcanada.com/fr/experts/The Hosted Buyer's Program continues to be a success
The buyers' program once again posted spectacular numbers! Indeed, 716 meetings were recorded over the 3 days of the show. This area brought together 87 buyers from 14 different countries and 356 exhibitors from 39 countries. Two thirds of the exhibitors felt that their meeting would result in a sale and 100% of the buyers expressed their desire to return to the program next year. The program included the largest distributors in the U.S., Mexico and China, such as Bozzuto's, Atalanta, Sigma Foodservice and Angliss Shenzhen, as well as major retailers in Canada, including Coleman's and Simply for Life.

Special thanks to our official partners: OMAFRA, MAPAQ, Agriculture Canada and EDC.

See you May 9th to 11th, 2023, at the Enercare Center in Toronto for the 20th edition of SIAL Canada!

About SIAL Canada About SIAL Canada SIAL Canada is an integral part of the SIAL network, the world's leading network of trade shows dedicated to the food industry, with 10 trade shows, bringing together 16,700 exhibitors and 700,000 trade visitors from over 200 countries. Established in 2001, SIAL Canada is the result of the work of three organizations, all shareholders of the event: ADAQ (Association des détaillants en alimentation du Québec), Agri-Food Export Group Québec-Canada and Comexposium, in addition to receiving support from Agriculture Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), the Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ), the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
(OMAFRA), as well as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

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