Episode Details

In this flavorful new episode of The Food Professor Podcast—presented by Caddle—Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois serve up an inspiring conversation with Rob Sengotta, chef and co-founder of Von Slick’s Finishing Touch, the award-winning Manitoba-based producer of gourmet compound butters.

The Interview

Rob takes listeners behind the scenes of his chef-to-entrepreneur journey—from fine-dining kitchens in London and France to building a small-batch butter business on the prairies. He shares how curiosity and culinary discipline led to Von Slick’s signature push-tube packaging and eight imaginative flavours, including garlic confit, roasted red pepper, mushroom duxelle, and cowboy butter.

Listeners learn how Rob and partner Landon Craker turned a spark of an idea into a thriving Western Canadian brand by mastering distribution, leveraging farmers’ markets, and staying creative on social media. Rob reflects on his early appearance on Dragon’s Den, the lessons learned about timing and valuation, and the advantages of remaining proudly local. He also reveals new restaurant-format products, growing online sales nationwide, and why Canadians’ appetite for supporting homegrown brands continues to expand.

The News

In the first half, Sylvain reports live from Medellín, Colombia, where he’s attending an international conference on rural food economies. He offers a fascinating window into Colombia’s agricultural transformation—how coffee and cocoa remain vital exports and how farmers are striving to move beyond decades of narcotics-driven instability.

Back in Canada, Michael and Sylvain unpack the latest headlines:

• CFIA factory inspections and the urgent need for transparency;
• Health Canada’s cloned-meat consultations, why silent science can backfire, and the parallels to GMO controversies;
• Parliamentary hearings on the grocery code of conduct and why supplier–retailer trust still drives price volatility;
• Bank of Canada’s rate decision, its implications for restaurants and food-service recovery; and
• There is a growing debate over adopting a U.S.-style SNAP food-assistance program in Canada.

This episode blends global perspective, policy insight, and entrepreneurial inspiration—proving again that from farm to fork, the Canadian food economy is as complex as it is delicious.

Join us at the Coffee Association of Canada's Annual Conference Thursday, November 12th, 2026
at Angus Glen in Toronto (Markham)

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Don’t miss Canada’s premier coffee industry event — we sell out every year!

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 Sc