What the facility does
Food and beverage product/process development, laboratory analyses and regulatory assistance.
Areas of expertise
The Food and Beverage Innovation Centre (FBIC), formerly known as the Canadian Food and Wine Institute Innovation Centre, offers a full suite of services to support industry innovation and commercialization of new products and processes. From new recipe development to shelf-life testing and nutritional labelling, the FBIC pairs industry partners with faculty, recent graduates and students with the right expertise and equipment to meet client needs.
Research services
FOOD and BEVERAGE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
World-class culinary, beverage, cannabis edibles and food science expertise, facilities, and equipment to develop and improve Food & Beverage (F&B) products.
FOOD SAFETY and REGULATORY STANDARDS
Guidance on food safety and regulatory standards as part of the product development process, including preliminary food safety risk assessments; regulatory and Food Safety Gap Analysis.
BEVERAGE PROCESSING PILOT PLANT
- Access small batch beverage processing supports for research & development (R&D) and innovation purposes to develop, reformulate, and scale-up new beverage products (alcoholic and non-alcoholic).
- Services include beverage formulation, mixing, carbonation, bottling/canning, and pasteurization.
- Canadian Food inspection Agency (CFIA)-approved for Inter-Provincial trade.
- Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), Safe Foods for Canadians Act (SFCA), and Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) compliant.
BEVERAGE ANALYTICAL SERVICES
- Anton Paar beer, distilled spirits, cider, mead, kombucha and wine analysis: alcohol by volume (ABV), colour, extracts, pH, etc.
- Hops analysis: Total alpha and beta acids (%); moisture content (%); hop storage index (HSI).
SENSORY ANALYSIS and CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE
- Sensory evaluation and consumer acceptance studies.
- Product evaluation through ‘Golden Palate’ tastings with our Chef Professors or Beverage Specialists.
- Consumer testing to gauge market’s perception of product.
Sectors of application
- Agriculture, animal science and food
- Manufacturing and processing
- Professional and technical services (including legal services, architecture, engineering)
- Tourism and hospitality
Specialized labs and equipment
| Specialized lab | Equipment | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Product Development (R&D) Kitchen | Fully equipped industrial kitchen (mixers, blenders, food processors, utensils, etc.) | For food and beverage research and product development. |
| Product Development (R&D) Kitchen | Combi ovens with hoods | Multi-function oven for product development. |
| Product Development (R&D) Kitchen | Induction cooktops | Electric cooktops for product development. |
| Beverage Processing Pilot Plant | UHT/HTST pasteurizer (lab scale) | Ultra-High Temperature (UHT) processing and High-Temperature, Short-Time (HTST) pasteurization. The UHT microthermics pasteurizer can bring products up to 138 °C. Connected to a homogenizer. |
| Beverage Processing Pilot Plant | Batch pasteurizer (lab scale) | Pasteurize finished packaged products. |
| Beverage Processing Pilot Plant | Carbonation system | Carbonate beverages to a variety of levels of CO2. |
| Beverage Processing Pilot Plant | Bottle filling head and capper | Counter pressure filler to fill a variety of bottle sizes. |
| Beverage Processing Pilot Plant | Can filling and seaming machine | Counter pressure filler able to fill a variety of can sizes. |
| Beverage Processing Pilot Plant | Glycol Jacketed Holding Tank | Store or carbonate liquids at cold temperatures. |
| Beverage Processing Pilot Plant | Process Heat Exchanger | Capable of quickly bringing liquids from a boil down to 1°C. |
| Beverage Processing Pilot Plant | Heated mixing tanks | Capable of processing batches from 30L - 250L. |
| Beverage Processing Pilot Plant | RO water filtration system (beverage production) | Reverse Osmosis (RO) water system for scientifically replicable water profiles. |
| Beverage Processing Pilot Plant | Walk-in fridge | Cooler for raw and finished products, maintaining temperatures below 3 °C. |
| Food and Cannabis Research Labs | Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) equipment | Create and test modified atmosphere packaging for shelf life testing. |
| Food and Cannabis Research Labs | Environmental chambers | Control temperature and humidity levels for shelf life testing. |
| Food and Cannabis Research Labs | Supercritical CO2 extractor | Extract cannabis compounds from plant matter for use in cannabis edibles research. |
| Food and Cannabis Research Labs | Electrospray Dryer | Produces micro-nano cannabinoid particles to study dispersion and solubility in cannabis edibles research. |
| Food and Cannabis Research Labs | Combi oven | Multi-function oven for cannabis edibles research. |
| Food and Cannabis Research Labs | Bulk Tray Dryer | Large commercial dryer to dry cannabis plant matter and edibles. |
| Food and Cannabis Chemistry Lab | High Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC) | Chemical analytical instrument to identify and quantify chemical components in cannabis edibles research. |
| Food and Cannabis Chemistry Lab | Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) system | Chemical analytical instrument to identify and quantify chemical components in cannabis edibles research. |
| Food and Cannabis Chemistry Lab | Flash Chromatograph | Chemical analytical instrument to identify and quantify chemical components in cannabis edibles research. |
| Beverage Quality Lab | Texture Analyzer | Testing of food and beverage quality attributes for product development. |
| Beverage Quality Lab | Colorimeter | Testing of food and beverage quality attributes for product development. |
| Beverage Quality Lab | Water Activity Meter | Testing of food and beverage quality attributes for product development. |
| Beverage Quality Lab | Density Meter | Testing of food and beverage quality attributes for product development. |
| Beverage Quality Lab | Moisture Analyzer | Testing of food and beverage quality attributes for product development. |
| Beverage Quality Lab | Viscosity Meter | Testing of food and beverage quality attributes for product development. |
| Beverage Quality Lab | Refractometer | Testing of food and beverage quality attributes for product development. |
| Beverage Quality Lab | Anton Paar Beverage Analyzer (beer and cider) | Test key parameters such as alcohol content, CO2, pH, colour, haze, and specific gravity. |
| Beverage Quality Lab | Anton Paar Beverage Analyzer (spirits and liqueurs) | Test key parameters such as alcohol content, sugar content and colour. |
| Beverage Quality Lab | Anton Paar Beverage Analyzer (wine) | Test key parameters such as alcohol content and specific gravity. |
| Beverage Quality Lab | Anton Paar CBoxQC | Analyzer to determine CO2 and O2 levels in beverages. |
| Beverage Quality Lab | Rotary Evaporator | Rotovap. Vacuum distillation equipment. |
| Beverage Chemistry Lab | Ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer | Chemical analytical instrument to identify and quantify chemical components in food and beverages. |
| Beverage Chemistry Lab | Raman Spectrometer | With Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Chemical analytical instrument to identify and quantify chemical components in food and beverages. |
| Beverage Chemistry Lab | High Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC) | Chemical analytical instrument to identify and quantify chemical components in food and beverages. |
| Food Microbiology Lab | Biosafety Cabinet | Microbiology cell counts and identification for shelf-life testing to validate food and beverage industry processes. |
| Food Microbiology Lab | CO2 Incubator | Microbiology cell counts and identification for shelf-life testing to validate food and beverage industry processes. |
| Niagara College Culinary Labs | Full-scale commercial kitchens and pastry labs | Fully equipped to develop culinary products. |
| Niagara College Teaching Brewery | Small-scale functional brewery and 3/4 acre research hops yard | Fully equipped to develop and trial beer and other beverage products. |
| Niagara College Teaching Winery | Small-scale functional winery and 40 Acre Production and Research Vineyard | Fully equipped to develop and trial wine and other fermented products. |
| Niagara College Teaching Distillery | Small-scale functional distillery | Fully equipped to develop distilled beverages. |
Private and public sector research partners
- A Hillier Vineyard
- Broya Bone Broth
- Brushfire Smoke BBQ
- Can-AM Pepper
- Chocolate FX
- Detour Coffee Roasters
- DistillX Beverages
- Drink Miura Ltd.
- FalseOx
- Genuine Tea Co.
- Iron Will Raw Pet Food
- Kvas Fine Beverage Co.
- Mariposa Dairy
- Miski Organics
- MLG Enterprises Ltd.
- Neob Botanical Beverages
- Niagara Food Specialties
- Ontario Craft Brewers Association
- Pilling Foods
- Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery
- Riverside Natural Foods Ltd.
- Theo’s Eatery
- Vailmont Vineyards
- Valley Growers Inc.
- VG Meats
- Vij’s at Home
- Vineland Research and Innovation Centre
- Vines to Vintages
Additional information
| Title | URL |
|---|---|
| Centre works with partner to develop tasty gluten-free beer. | https://www.ncinnovation.ca/blog/food-beverage-innovation-centre/centre-works-with-partner-to-devel… |
| “Good Eats” products make for great baking alternatives. | https://www.ncinnovation.ca/blog/food-beverage-innovation-centre/good-eats-products-make-for-great-… |
| Distilling by-product gets makeover to become new product. | https://www.ncinnovation.ca/blog/research-innovation/distilling-by-product-gets-makeover-to-become-new-product |
| Dipping into a pita chip conundrum. | https://www.ncinnovation.ca/blog/research-innovation/dipping-into-a-pita-chip-conundrum |
| Distilling the spirit of innovation. | https://www.ncinnovation.ca/blog/food-beverage-innovation-centre/distilling-the-spirit-of-innovation |