Episode Details

Welcome to the The Food Professor podcast episode 7, I’m Michael LeBlanc, and I’m Sylvain Charlebois!

In this episode: 

Latest research: the impact of millions of Canadians working from home on the food service and restaurant industry 

https://www.dal.ca/sites/agri-food/research/covid-19-telecommuting.html

Do you have any tips for restaurants?: Should tips be automatically added to the bill?  Is the concept of tips part of the entire restaurant industries problem?  https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-heres-a-tip-its-time-to-discuss-how-we-pay-workers-in-the-service/

Less is more: how can grocers keep their assortment fresh in a global pandemic

Our Special Guest: Cara Keating, Pepsico Foods Canada

Movement on the local food-farm gate movement: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/meat-alberta-farmers-butchers-government-1.5669951?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar

T-t-t-talking 'bout my COVID generation: how growing up in a pandemic effects your perspectives on food; now or forever?

Crying over food safety returns - where is there opportunity to improve the food recall process?

Nobody here but us chickens: Canada's new initiative to move perishable food through to food banks: https://www.cp24.com/news/chicken-eggs-both-go-first-as-feds-roll-out-covid-19-food-surplus-program-1.5062880

Thanks to Cara Keating for being our guests on this episode of The Food Professor podcast!

If you liked what you heard you can subscribe on Apple iTunes , Spotify or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the grocery, foodservice,  or restaurant industry.    I’m Michael LeBlanc, producer and host of The Voice of Retail podcast and a bunch of other stuff, and I’m Sylvain Charlebois!

Have a safe week everyone!

About Us

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Visiting Professor in Food Policy and Distribution at McGill University and a Professor in Food Distribution and Policy in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University.

Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. He is one of the world’s most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability with over 775 published peer-reviewed journal articles. Dr. Charlebois is also an editor for the prestigious Trends in Food Science Technology journal. 

He co-hosts The Food Professor podcast, discussing issues in the food, foodservice, grocery and restaurant industries and which is the most listened Canadian management podcast in Canada. 

Every year since 2012, he has published the now highly anticipated Canadian Food Price Report, which provides an overview of food price trends for the coming year. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, nationally as well as internationally. He has testified on several occasions before parliamentary committees on food policy-related issues as an expert witness. He has been asked to act as an advisor on food and agricultural policies in many Canadian provinces and other countries.

With extensive experience collaborating with businesses, governments, and NGOs, Dr. Charlebois combines academic rigor with practical expertise, making him one of the most influential voices in the global agri-food landscape. His work continues to advance the understanding of food systems, fostering innovation and resilience in a rapidly evolving industry. In 2025, h