Niagara College has received more than $1.6 million in federal and provincial grants to help fund cutting-edge beverage research equipment for the College’s Canadian Food and Wine Institute Innovation Centre (CFWI IC), which will be housed within the College’s new Marotta Family Innovation Complex. The Canadian Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) College-Industry Fund (CIIF) will supply $816,000 and another $816,000 will be provided by the Ontario Research Fund. The Marotta Innovation Complex will directly support applied research and world-class training specifically for the wine, beer, spirits and non-alcoholic beverage sectors in Niagara.
Through the CFWI IC’s Beverage Innovation Excellence research program, the new tech will equip three distinct research labs within the new 49,000-square-foot complex, which is set to open later this year.
“Over the past several years, Niagara College has proven itself to be a powerhouse for applied research for Canada’s food and beverage industries,” said Marc Nantel, NC’s associate vice-president of Research & Innovation. “This equipment will allow us to build upon that reputation and continue to conduct world-class research that will make significant contributions to this industry, right here in Niagara and across the country.”
The projects build on strong demand from regional beverage manufacturers and more than six years of recent capacity-building for food and beverage research and development at the CFWI IC. Since 2012, the CFWI IC has conducted more than 65 applied research projects, the products of several of which are now available on the market nationally and internationally. The staff and faculty who conduct these projects with students and industry partners are proven experts in food and beverage engineering, science, product development, and sensory analysis; food safety and regulatory affairs; nutrition; microbial and chemical analysis; and more.
~ Andrew Korchok Read more at InsideNC
