Develops innovative food and beverage products combining culinary creativity with food science expertise.
The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) Centre for Culinary Innovation bridges culinary artistry with rigorous food science to accelerate product development. Their comprehensive end-to-end services span ideation to scale-up, combining creative culinary expertise with technical food science knowledge. The Centre excels in plant-based product development, leveraging Alberta's agricultural strengths while providing complete product characterization, shelf-life optimization, and targeted interventions. Distinctive capabilities include strategic supply chain sourcing, reformulation with functional testing, Health Canada regulatory compliance support, and formulation scale-up with appropriate suppliers. They conduct professional consumer insights through panel studies, competitive benchmarking, comprehensive sensory testing, and market readiness assessment. This integrated culinary-science methodology, combined with quality control program development and professional food styling, transforms ideas into scalable, market-ready products faster, helping agrifood companies achieve technical excellence and exceptional taste profiles.
• Shelf life product analysis and optimization
• Assessment of mechanisms for shelf-life failure and targeted interventions
• Complete product characterization (pH, water activity, texture, sensory evaluation)
• Real-time and accelerated shelf-life testing
• Alternative packaging and process recommendations
• End-to-end product research and development
• Ingredient assessment and application development
• Complete ideation to scale-up project management
• Processing optimization and validation studies
• Professional food styling and presentation
• Strategic supply chain sourcing and reformulation services
• Ingredient and packaging assessment
• Reformulation with functional testing (pH, water activity, sensory analysis)
• Health Canada regulatory compliance support
• Formulation scale up with appropriate ingredient suppliers
• Professional consumer insights and product sensory evaluation
• Consumer panel studies and competitive benchmarking
• Comprehensive sensory testing (hedonic scaling, preference ranking, acceptance tests)
• Quality control program development
• Market readiness assessment
- Agriculture, animal science and food
- Education
- Manufacturing and processing
Specialized labs and equipment
| Specialized lab | Equipment | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Research Kitchen | Freeze Dryer | |
| Rational combi oven | ||
| Meat grinder | ||
| Pasta extruder | ||
| Marble confectioners’ surface | ||
| Ice cream machine | ||
| Vacuum sealer | ||
| Food dehydrator | ||
| Thermocirculator (sous-vide) | ||
| Vacuum tumbler | ||
| Dough sheeter | ||
| Retail Meat Laboratory | Vacuum stuffer | |
| Smokehouse | ||
| Bandsaw | ||
| Silent cutter/bowl chopper | ||
| Vemag stuffer | ||
| Vacuum tumbler | ||
| Fermentation chambers | For fermented meat products | |
| Cheese Lab | Raw milk receiving equipment | |
| Cheese vat | Up to 200 L |
Private and public sector research partners
• RDAR − Results Driven Agriculture Research (Alberta)
• Alberta Pulse Growers Commission
• Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan)
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
• Alberta Innovates
• National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP)