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
Specialized labs and equipment
| 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. |
Private and public sector research partners
- 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
Additional information
| 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… |