Food Inflation hits the brakes, Dairy Avian Flu Mystery Meeting, Loblaw New Strategy, guests SIAL Gold Winners Jennifer Zimmermann and Amy Bronstetter, co-founders of Epic Tofu and Exclusive BBQ research with Colleen Martin from Caddle

In this episode, presented by Caddle, Michael LeBlanc brings fresh insights from the action-packed SIAL food innovation show in Montreal. Michael & Sylvain share their experiences and interviews, highlighting the energy and innovations at the event. The episode's special guests, Jennifer Zimmermann and Amy Bronstetter, co-founders of Epic Tofu, discuss their victory in SIAL Canada's food and beverage Start-Up Pitch Competition. They impressed the judges with their innovative frozen tofu, which offers superior texture and flavour, triples shelf-life, reduces food waste, and has replaced over 250,000 meat-based meals.

The episode also features Colleen Martin from Caddle, who presents exclusive research on BBQ trends. She delves into what people are cooking, their equipment, and their preferences, providing invaluable insights for BBQ enthusiasts and the food industry and helping them stay ahead of the curve.

Michael and his co-host delve into a post-analysis of the SIAL show, reflecting on the sessions, key takeaways, and overall vibe. They also delve into pressing issues such as inflation, engaging in detailed discussions on recent inflation numbers and their profound impact on the food industry, providing the audience with a comprehensive understanding of the topic.

Additionally, the podcast covers the recent House of Commons agriculture committee meeting on H5N1, which was unexpectedly held in-camera, and Loblaw's new public relations strategy featuring Dufresne on BNN and a new Code of Conduct.

The episode concludes with a look at Red Lobster's fate and ownership structure, noting its decline in Canada and the U.S. and its ownership structure with only 30 remaining restaurants, humorously dubbed "Dead Lobster." 

 

BBQ Ideas for Fish

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcsOZjlDuxxKtifO3YVhOTHoGgUSLb-T7

 

About Epic Tofu

We met 6 years ago after our 2nd babies were born—in a mommy-group encounter that feels like a life time ago. We chatted about babies, breastfeeding, bottles, and business. But, with young kids underfoot and existing careers in progress, starting a business together was always just a passing comment.

As the years went by we raised kids (lots of girls), worked together, and became friends. Then a global pandemic hit—everything slowed down. No time for ourselves as parents without child care, but funny enough, lots of time to think.  And thought we did until the right idea finally came to us!

Food became scarce for a while in the early months of the pandemic. Tofu was nearly impossible to get our hands on; in particular, Jenn's favourite brick of smoked tofu. And just like that, an idea was born; if we can't buy flavoured tofu, we'll make our own! And we'll make it even better than ever.

So here we are, putting ourselves (and our recipes) out there for the world to judge! We love what we do, we love tofu and we hope you will too!

About Amy

My dream has always been to start a business... with 18 years of experience and the most passionate "work spouse" anyone could ask for, Epic Tofu is finally here! I have had the privilege of working with some of the worlds finest entrepreneurs and I have done every "job in the building". Thanks to these experiences (and of course a ridiculous amount of hard work) Epic Tofu will become synonymous in Canada with "the best natural, marinated plant based protein on the market"... Bold I know, but there's no other way to dream!

About Jennifer

Jenn is a Marketing and Communications nerd whose experience spans the consumer packaged goods, retail and government industries. A communicator at heart, Jenn spent her career helping companies build better relationships with their customers by telling the stories that make their brands truly unique.

Now, Jenn is building her own brand as co-founder of Epic Tofu—a self-funded plant-based food start up. They’re challenging the plant-based industry with full-flavour marinated tofu products that are so epic, even tofu haters love them.

 

About Colleen

Colleen has been working in the Retail industry for close to 25 years with a proven track record in growing businesses by providing strategic direction and leadership to merchandising and marketing teams. 
At Caddle, Colleen is responsible for driving revenue growth and maximizing profitability within the organization. She leads cross-functional teams, aligning sales, marketing, customer success to ensure a unified and customer-centric approach to revenue generation. Colleen is adept at fostering a high-performance culture, emphasizing collaboration, innovation, and customer satisfaction as core values within the revenue-generating functions of the company.

Specialties: Creation & implementation of winning store-level programs, brand development, team development, communication, project management, marketing strategies & communication, retail assortment, insights from data analysis, category management, profit and loss management, negotiation, digital and social media retail strategies, advertising strategy and execution, SEO/SEM.

 

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.