Food Innovation and Research Studio (FIRSt)

George Brown College, Toronto, Ontario
What the facility does

Food and beverage research and development lab.

Areas of expertise

The Food Innovation and Research Studio (FIRSt) supports the food and beverage industry with scientific R&D services from our lab located at George Brown College in Toronto, Ontario. As a Technology Access Centre, our team of food scientists, chefs, and industry professionals provide our clients with creative, practical, and science-based insights to solve product development challenges and help them bring new ideas to market.

Research services
  • Product and recipe development: Product development; Product optimization; Recipe development
  • Validation and support: Consumer sensory research; Focus groups; In-plant trials and pilot testing
  • Testing and compliance: Shelf-life validation; Nutritional analysis; Claims, regulatory, and packaging review
Sectors of application
  • Agriculture, animal science and food
  • Consumer non-durables

Equipment

Function

4000 square foot facility with a large kitchen filled with typical kitchen and factory-scale processing equipment (ovens, mixers, scales, kettles, blenders, etc.)

Applied research and testing.

Private secured testing kitchen

Proprietary research and development.

State-of-the-art quantitative sensory testing facility

Consumer sensory evaluation.

Sensory evaluation software

Consumer sensory evaluation.

Beverage carbonators

Product development and testing.

Homogenizer / emulsifier

Product development and testing.

Hobart Mixer

Product development and testing.

Robot Coupe Mixer

Product development and testing.

Food dehydrator

Product development and testing.

Freeze dryer

Product development and testing.

Steam kettles

Model: scrape surface and other. Product development and testing.

Brew / steep kettle

Product development and testing.

Ice cream machine

Product development and testing.

Blast chiller freezer

Product development and testing.

Tabletop convection burners

Product development and testing.

Combi oven

Product development and testing.

Accelerated shelf life test chambers

Product development and testing.

ESHA Genesis nutrition database software

Product development and testing.

Moisture meter

Product development and testing.

pH meter

Product development and testing.

Viscometer

Product development and testing.

Colorimeter

Product development and testing.

Chromameter

Product development and testing.

Refractometer

Product development and testing.

Water activity meters

Product development and testing.

Metal detector

Product development and testing.

  • Awake Chocolate
  • Aware Beverages Inc.
  • Barilla Inc.
  • Everspring Farms
  • Flamaglo Foods Ltd. (YOSO)
  • Flow Hydration Inc.
  • Gidney Fisheries
  • Gord’s Ginger Beer Co.
  • Hero Ice Cream
  • Imago Restaurants Inc. (Duke Pubs)
  • Kawartha Lakes Food Source
  • KL Foods Inc.
  • Mado’s Sauces
  • Manning Canning
  • Martin’s Family Fruit Farm
  • Metro Inc.
  • Neale’s Sweet N Nice Inc.
  • Nola Baking Co.
  • NONA Vegan Foods
  • Nuba Beverages
  • O’Doughs Inc.
  • Pyung Hwa Food Company (PH Food Inc.)
  • Rawcology Inc.
  • Ready To Go Foods Inc.
  • Rootham Gourmet Preserves Ltd.
  • Siip Bone Broth
  • The J.M. Smucker Company
  • Stirling Creamery Ltd.
  • Superpower Snax Inc.
  • Sweetness Sugar Cookies
  • The Whole Living Kitchen (Healthy Crunch Company)
  • TMF Foods (The Meat Factory)
  • Torill’s Table
  • Two Bears Coffee

 

Title

URL

Culinary technologist’s creativity and problem-solving skills help FIRSt make pandemic pivot.

https://www.georgebrown.ca/news/2021/culinary-technologists-creativity-and-problem-solving-skills-h…

Bioenterprise and George Brown College to collaborate on innovation.

https://www.foodincanada.com/research-and-development/bioenterprise-canada-and-george-brown-college…

Local entrepreneurs 'go to college' to launch businesses.

https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/local-entrepreneurs-go-to-college-to-launch-businesses

Kawartha Lakes Food Source launches a salsa brand with a social purpose.

https://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/local-kawartha-lakes/life/food-wine/2021/05/21/kawartha-lakes-foo…

Yogurt made from Canadian-grown oats to hit store shelves.

https://www.foodincanada.com/food-in-canada/yogurt-made-from-canadian-grown-oats-to-hit-store-shelv…