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The Food Professor

Michael LeBlanc, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois

Join Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, Senior Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in Halifax with host Michael LeBlanc as they look at the hot issues in the food, foodservice, grocery and restaurant industries. We'll discuss proprietary industry and consumer food related research, check out fresh new ideas and talk about half baked strategies. © 2020-2026 M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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21 episodes
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Avg 46 min
English

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S7 · E2
Thursday · 49 min
Rolling Back the Counter-Tariffs, Beef Politics Redux, Retail Crime & Punishment in Vancouver and guest Dave Jones, President & CEO of Bento Sushi
Dave Jones, President and CEO of Bento Sushi, joins Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois to trace Canada's largest sushi company from a 1996 Toronto takeout counter to 700-plus locations. The hosts also unpack Ottawa's 48-hour seafood tariff reversal, honey tariffs hitting Manitoba, Chapman's ingredient swap, Trump's beef gambit and sliding cattle futures, dairy's grip on CUSMA submissions, the Canadian Tire and Tim Hortons loyalty tie-up, Loblaw's capital plan, and grocery retail crime in
S7 · E1
August 27 · 43 min
Tariff Turmoil, Where's the Beef (Coming From), and Explosive Poo - We're Back with Season Seven!
Michael & Sylvain open Season Seven with a guest-free catch-up on the summer that reshaped Canadian food. Section 338 tariffs and the supply management fight, the Competition Bureau's challenge to Nortera's Green Giant deal, cyclospora and the lettuce recalls, beef volumes sliding almost 5%, El Nino's pull on 2027 food inflation, and Gay Lea's $200 million Toronto bet. Plus Sylvain's new book, Feed the Power, and a tribute to Senator Todd Lewis.
August 20 · 17 min
Bacon Bites and Big Wins: Cloé Helmond, Co-Founder of Les Brutes du Soya, on Quebec's Soy Opportunity: SIAL Summer Bonus Episode
Live from the SIAL Canada Food Innovation Show in Montreal, Cloé Helmond, Co-Founder of Les Brutes du Soya, joins Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois minutes after winning the Start-up Scale CPG pitch competition. She unpacks the family soy farm behind Quebec's fast-growing TVP (textured vegetable protein) brand, new bacon bites and soy curls, six-dollar meal math, the health-aisle merchandising debate — plus the now-public Dans l'œil du dragon deal with dragon David Côté of LOOP Mission.
August 13 · 17 min
From NASA to Your Lasagna: Inside Maia Farms' Award Winning Mushroom Protein with Jason Mackay and Asha Wheeldon: SIAL Summer Bonus Episode
Live from SIAL Canada in Montreal, Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois meet the winners of the show's startup pitch competition: Asha Wheeldon, Founder and CEO of Kula Foods and a member of the Maia Farms team, and Jason Mackay, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer at Maia Farms. The Vancouver company turns oyster mushrooms and Canadian yellow peas into high-protein, clean-label ingredients, and just became the first ingredient supplier to take the prize.
August 6 · 16 min
Zero Proof, Full Flavour: Victoire Guglieri, Founder of Nasdrow, First Prize Seed CPG Category Winner: SIAL Summer Bonus Episode
Recorded live at the SIAL Food Innovation show in Montreal, Michael and Sylvain welcome Victoire Guglieri, Founder of Nasdrow and winner of the show's startup pitch competition. The Bordeaux-born entrepreneur pours her premium non-alcoholic ready-to-drink cocktails, including award-winning bestseller Scarlet & Co, while explaining why alcohol-free drinks shouldn't be boring. The trio explores why younger consumers are drinking less, the health and wellness trends driving the category, and the mo
July 30 · 18 min
Carlo Stocco, Managing Director North America, and Naïla Bassin, Marketing Leader Canada, Andriani S.p.A., on Bringing Felicia Pasta From Italy to Canadian Shelves: Summer Bonus Episode
Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois talk with Naïla Bassin, Marketing Leader Canada, and Carlo Stocco, Managing Director North America, both of Andriani S.p.A., live at the SIAL Food Innovation Show in Montreal, on launching Italy's fastest-growing better-for-you pasta brand Felicia in Canada. From the new London, Ontario plant to buckwheat, red lentil and green cauliflower SKUs, a NEXTY award, and why fibre is the next protein, it's a masterclass in growing a category rather than chasing
July 23 · 33 min
Martin Lavoie, CEO of Groupe Export Agroalimentaire Québec-Canada: SIAL Summer Bonus Episode
Recorded live at SIAL Canada in late April, Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois welcome back Martin Lavoie, CEO of Groupe Export Agroalimentaire Québec-Canada, for their annual trade check-in. Lavoie unpacks the fallout from Liberation Day tariffs, the outlook for CUSMA renegotiation, and why Mexico is Quebec's top diversification target. Note: recorded before July's CUSMA deadline and the latest round of U.S. tariff actions against Canada — some ground has since shifted.
July 16 · 16 min
Jacques Duhaime, Owner of Duhaime Gourmet, on Building a Global Jam Business from a Quebec Family Orchard: SIAL Summer Bonus Episode
On this summer bonus episode of The Food Professor, recorded at SIAL Canada in Monteal, Michael LeBlanc and Sylvain Charlebois sit down with Jacques Duhaime of Duhaime Gourmet. Jacques traces his family's path from a 1945 dairy farm to a fifth-generation Quebec orchard and a nationally distributed low-sugar jam and fruit-spread business — covering the sale of the processing arm, expansion into Japan and the U.S., private-label manufacturing, trade show strategy, and a new 90%-fruit, no-pectin sp
S6 · E43
July 2 · 56 min
Pete Hoekstra, United States Ambassador to Canada, on Trade, Food Security & the Future of Canada-U.S. Trade Relations
In the Season 6 regular episode finale of The Food Professor Podcast, Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois sit down with Pete Hoekstra, United States Ambassador to Canada, for an exclusive discussion on Canada-U.S. food trade, CUSMA, supply chains and agricultural cooperation. Before the interview, they analyze the week's biggest food news, including El Niño's impact on crops, CFIA food fraud enforcement report, dairy protein shortages, the Grocery Code's first report, Metro's labour dispu
S6 · E42
June 25 · 51 min
Canada Top of The Table in Food Inflation, Vancouver Screams at Ice Cream Prices, Meat Delays Costing Consumers, and Vincent Breton, Président chez DuBreton
This week on The Food Professor Podcast, Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois welcome Vincent Breton, President & CEO of duBreton, for an engaging conversation recorded live at SIAL Canada in Montreal. Vincent explains why duBreton is betting on organic production, animal welfare and radical transparency while challenging long-standing agricultural policies. Before the interview, Michael and Sylvain unpack another busy week in food and agriculture, including rising grocery inflation, meat
S6 · E41
June 18 · 1 hr 2 min
National Food Strategy(ish), Global Issue Alignment from Ireland, Foodtastic(er) and guest Jean-François Archambault, Founder and General Manager of La Tablée des Chefs
Recorded live at SIAL Montreal, Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois welcome Jean-François Archambault, Founder and General Manager of La Tablée des Chefs, for an inspiring discussion about food recovery, food security, and food education. Jean-François shares how his organization has transformed surplus food into more than 26 million meals while empowering nearly 100,000 youth through culinary education. The episode also covers Canada's food strategy, competition policy, food waste, energ
S6 · E40
June 11 · 59 min
Axel Schwan, President of Tim Hortons Canada & U.S., and Duncan Fulton, Chief Corporate Officer of Restaurant Brands International, on Defending Canada's Coffee Crown
Special guests Axel Schwan, President of Tim Hortons Canada & U.S., and Duncan Fulton, Chief Corporate Officer of Restaurant Brands International, joining Michael and Sylvain to answer tough questions about quality, Dunkin's return to Canada, hiring Canadians, attracting younger guests, and AI in restaurants. Plus, the news of the week: Sobeys faces Competition Bureau scrutiny over property controls; Ottawa's new AI strategy and agriculture; and the Texas screwworm fly threatening to push Canadi
S6 · E39
June 4 · 54 min
Recession, What Recession, Kingston Baby Formula Factory revelations, Tomato logic & guest Don Hill, Chairman of Sucro
This week on The Food Professor Podcast, Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois welcome Don Hill, Chairman of Sucro, for a fascinating conversation about Canada's newest sugar refinery, food manufacturing competitiveness, trade, innovation, AI, and the future of the North American sugar industry. Before the interview, we unpack Canada's economic outlook (recession, what recession?) Dalhousie Agi-Food Lab & MNP’s G20 country view on food affordability, runaway tomato inflation & food insecuri
S6 · E38
May 28 · 50 min
American Chicken Invasion, Poultry Supply Management Glitches Prices, Canadian Beef Worries and guest Karen Proud, President & Adjudicator, Canada Grocery Code
This week on The Food Professor Podcast, Michael LeBlanc and Sylvain Charlebois unpack the sharp rise in chicken prices, Canada’s growing dependence on imported poultry from the U.S., Quebec’s move to remove sales taxes from select grocery items, and mounting tensions around beef trade & import negotiations. Then, recorded live at SIAL Canada in Montreal, Karen Proud, President & Adjudicator of the Canada Grocery Code, joins the podcast once again live from the SIAL show in Montreal to discuss t
S6 · E37
May 21 · 1 hr 7 min
Who needs 6% Milk, the Tierany of Best Before, U.S. Mushroom Trade Trouble, a world awash in Bourbon and Live from SIAL, Jessica C. Adelman, SVP, Mars Snacking North America
This week on The Food Professor Podcast, Michael LeBlanc and Sylvain Charlebois talk about Ontario’s new 6% milk, generic GLP-1 drugs debuting in Canada, potentially transforming household eating habits, the history of food waste and best-before date reform, food theft and organized crime, mushroom trade tensions with the U.S., and challenges facing Atlantic Canada’s oyster industry. Then, Michael sits down live at SIAL Canada in Montreal with Jessica C. Adelman, Senior Vice President, Mars Snac
S6 · E36
May 14 · 1 hr
Dunkin' Returns, Dairy Dumping No More, Climate Change Recalibration, and guest Kim Furlong, CEO, Retail Council of Canada
On this episode, Michael LeBlanc and Sylvain Charlebois tackle the biggest food and agriculture stories shaping Canada—from Dunkin'’s return and dairy supply decisions in Ontario to climate policy influenced by new research, potential carbon tax pauses in Alberta, and the Bank of Canada’s POV on some causes of food inflation brought on by Canada’s tariff policies. Then, in a wide-ranging conversation, Kim Furlong, CEO of the Retail Council of Canada, explains why Canadians misunderstand grocery
S6 · E35
May 7 · 56 min
Restaurant & Dairy Farmer Risks, AI Drive-Thrus & Isabelle Marquis, Co-President of the SIAL Innovation Jury & Gold Award Winner Santiago Stacey, Chief Banana Officer, Ku Na Na!
This week on The Food Professor Podcast, Michael LeBlanc and Sylvain Charlebois sit down live at SIAL Canada 2026 in Montreal with both SIAL Innovation Co-President judge Isabele Marquis and Santiago Stacey, Chief Banana Officer and winner of the innovation gold award. Santiago shares how his new banana beverage Ku Na Na! is transforming rescued bananas into a groundbreaking plant-based beverage. Then, Michael and Sylvain unpack the week’s biggest food and agriculture stories—from restaurant se
S6 · E34
April 30 · 1 hr 6 min
Live from SIAL in Montreal: Sovereign Ag, from Uncertain to UnKibble with our guest Dylan Munro of Spot & Tango
This week on The Food Professor Podcast, recorded live from the SIAL Food Innovation Show in Montreal, Michael and Sylvain unpack the biggest food and agriculture stories of the week—from North American central banks holding rates, the spring economic statement, the new Canadian Soverign Wealth Fund, and global shipping disruptions reverberations to Agriculture, and talk about the latest edition of Canada’s Food Sentiment Index result, and touch on surveillance pricing, Michael’s visit to a loca
S6 · E33
April 23 · 55 min
Carney’s Trade Avenger Squad, U.S. Beef with Beef & Cracking the Code for Localizing Global QSR Food Trends with Trinh Tham, CEO of the Kevito Group, operator of Chatime and Bake Code
Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois welcome Trinh Tham, CEO of the Kevito Group, to discuss scaling QSR concepts Chatime and Bake Code across Canada. Tham shares insights on brand building, franchise growth, and bringing global food trends to Canadian consumers through authenticity and localization. The episode also covers key food industry news, including inflation, sustainability trends, grocery pricing, and global trade pressures impacting Canada’s agri-food sector, as well as thoughts
S6 · E32
April 16 · 1 hr 8 min
Carney’s Majority Moves, the Weight of Grocery Operations and a superstar NFL baker debuts in Montreal, plus guest Michael Graydon, CEO of FHCP
Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois welcome back Michael Graydon, CEO of FHCP, for a deep dive into Canada’s food manufacturing sector. The wide-ranging conversation explores regulatory burdens, access to capital, retail consolidation, and trade uncertainty. Graydon highlights the growing divide between large and small manufacturers and the importance of the Grocery Code of Conduct. In the news, government policy shifts with the new Liberal majority, the amazing innovative work of the Gr

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