FIRSt celebrates First Anniversary

A crowd of industry, students and GBC FIRSt and Chef School faculty and staff were on hand yesterday to celebrate the FIRSt anniversary - one year since the Food Innovation and Research Studio (FIRSt) was launched as one of NSERC's first Technology Access Centres. The event featured FIRSt industry applied research partners showcasing the products developed in the region's leading culinary research studio.

Entrepreneur and George Brown College Graduate Chef Christine Cushing delivered a keynote address that celebrated the work of FIRSt in supporting entrepreneurs and innovators, as she discussed “Bridging the Gap Between Idea and Commercial Product.” Chef Cushing inspired the audience with her stories of taking products from idea to invoice, and spoke about how FIRSt can help re-risk the long road to successful product launch. Also featured was Steve Peters, Executive Director, Alliance of Ontario Food Processors (AOFP), who talked about “The Importance of Food and Beverage Processing in the Ontario Economy.” GBC President Anne Sado and Dean of Hospitality and Culinary Arts Lorraine Trotter talked about the importance of applied research as linked to industry innovation and student experiential learning.

Most inspiring were the partners who displayed their products and stories, accompanied by students in our chef and culinary nutrition management programs. All in all the event was a recipe for successful business innovation, as linked to training the next generation of innovators ad entrepreneurs in the important food and beverage sectors. Please take a moment to learn more about our partners featured at the event:

• Living Well with Parkinson’s & the Assistive Technology Clinic, Jeff and Diane Ross Movement Disorder Clinic  - Stephen Solomon 
• Embrace Foods - Anastasia MacLean 
• GoodWindWater Enterprises Ltd. - Tong Cheah 
• Stasis Preserves - Julian Katz 
• Square Snacks Inc. - MaryAnn Scandiffio 
• Chef Christine Cushing - Christine Cushing 
• GBC Twitter Hub - w/ Robert DeCaire (Tyer Krimmel's Student) 
• Scaccia Restaurant - Giorgio Saturnino, Natalie Saturnino & Philippe Daniel 
• Kimberley’s Own - Kimberley Lugsdin 
• ELLICSR – Princess Margaret Cancer Centre - Geremy Capone & Nazek Abdelmutti 

And so it was timely to read in today's Globe and Mail a piece by economist Todd Hirsch, who offered "A rave review for the restaurant industry" and a good overview of the economic importance of the sector and the transferable skills learned through this important work. It links very well with the Toronto Region Board of Trade's cluster strategy on the food and beverage industries as well. This all bodes well for promoting industry innovation in the region.

Visit the Food Innovation and Research Studio. Follow us on Twitter @GBCFIRSt, and #askGBCFIRSt to learn how we can help support your food product development needs. Check out this video to learn more about FIRSt.