AI & Food, Soulless QR Codes & Spice Queen Shivani Dhamija, Shivani's Kitchen

Join us on this captivating episode as we delve into the inspiring journey of Shivani's Kitchen, a thriving Indian cuisine business in Nova Scotia. Discover Shivani Dhamija's motivations, their secret to preserving authenticity while based in Canada, overcoming challenges faced during growth, and fascinating anecdotes of product development.

In the news, we look at consumer perceptions around AI & food with research from our friends at Caddle, the state of Farmer's Markets and if there is an opportunity to rebrand them, as well as the impending death of the QR code in restaurants, and a Nigerian chef that pulls a long record shift, not unlike a Canadian chef doing dinner service Saturday night through Sunday brunch and a fight over Taco Tuesday!

Note: all images, except Shivani, were created by https://openai.com/product/dall-e-2

 

About Shivani

I am Shivani founder of Shivani’s Kitchen Ltd., female-owned and led food processing company located in Nova Scotia, Canada. We make it easy for consumers to experience the bold, authentic flavors of India. We create authentic Indian spice blends and ready-to-use sauces to satisfy food cravings and cooking experiences. 

I recently won
(IWEN)Entrepreneur of the year 2020 by ISANS 
DEAM award by Team Works.
sobeys local award of Innovation 2020
CBDC Business distinction award 2021
Most Inspiring Immigrant Award Atlantic Canada 2022

I moved to Nova Scotia in 2011 to be with her partner Abhishek Asthana. Started from meal delivering services to cooking classes and by understanding our customers, and sensing a need we launched our Spice Blends in 2016. We initially started with our Garam Masala Spice Blend in hexagonal bottles with self-printed labels. 

Going wholesale and being able to bring the authentic experience of Indian flavors to more people had been Shivani's focus for a while. Shivani's Kitchen Spices launched on the shelves of Pete's Frootique & Fine Foods in 2016, and launched on the shelves of Sobeys in 2019!

And today we supply our spices and sauces to superstore, sobeys and sysco.
Please connect with us if you would like to have our products on the shelves of your stores.

About Us

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.

He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.

Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre’s Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa.

 

About Michael

Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Today's Shopping Choice and Pandora Jewellery.   

Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. ReThink Retail has added Michael to their prestigious Top Global Retail Influencers list for 2023 for the third year in a row. 

Michael is also the president of Maven Media, producing a network of leading trade podcasts, including Remarkable Retail , with best-selling author Steve Dennis, now ranked one of the top retail podcasts in the world. 

Based in San Francisco, Global eCommerce Leaders podcast explores global cross-border issues and opportunities for eCommerce brands and retailers. 

Last but not least, Michael is the producer and host of the "Last Request Barbeque" channel on YouTube, where he cooks meals to die for - and collaborates with top brands as a food and product influencer across North America

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 is a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions hosted senior retail executive on-stage in 1:1 interviews worldwide. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including The Remarkable Retail Podcast, The Voice of Retail, The Food Professor, The FEED powered by Loblaw and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast.  He has been recognized by the National Retail Federation (NRF) as a global Top Retail Voice for 2025 and 2025, and continues to be a ReThink Retail Top Retail Expert for the fifth year in a row.