Episode Details

Welcome to The Food Professor podcast episode 12, I’m Michael LeBlanc, and I’m Sylvain Charlebois!

Let's Moo-ve on, the Agri-Foods Lab at Dalhousie University issued a study on the Dairy Industry and Supply Management - there is a lot to unpack in this work - from how Canadians are essentially paying twice, to a call-out for reform to save the industry - take us through the key findings and recommendations

Getting local - study on local food - will consumers pay a premium, do they care if their fruits and veggies are grown on a farm or in a greenhouse, funny to me that people said "onions" as the number two ranked item to pay a premium for local - clearly the impacts of the recent recall fiasco

Downtown Challenges - only 10% of the office workers are back at work in the Toronto Core - big changes coming for the coffee industry!

Maple Leaf...doing well, which I'm kinda surprised at given the shutdown of foodservice  - their plant based protein division grew almost 10%

Heinz starts a ghost kitchen - looking to learn...is this a sign of things to come - is this brands pushing into the DTC model beyond restaurants and grocers?

Next research report - Nov 12th - sneak peek - online food ordering - any teasers?

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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, food service,  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, he received the prestigious Charles III medal recognizing his tremendous work in informing Canadians about food issues.

 Michael LeBlanc