(RecipeFranchising.com)

Second Cup owner to buy Milestones dining chain

Foodtastic plans to expand brand to Quebec

Reading Time: 2 minutes Future growth of the Milestones chain of grill-and-bar restaurants across Canada will take place under different ownership. Vaughan, Ont.-based Recipe Unlimited, owner of fast-casual and dining chains such as Swiss Chalet, The Keg, Harvey’s, St-Hubert and Montana’s, announced Monday it will sell the Milestones chain to Foodtastic, owner of the Second Cup and Nickels Deli […] Read more

(MyLand.ag)

AGI to buy into soil microbe breeding firm

Machinery maker to take minority stake in MyLand

Reading Time: 2 minutes A U.S. company ramping up a system to harvest, reproduce and restore beneficial microbes from a field’s own soils, as a way to restore peak fertility, expects to get backing soon from a Canadian farm equipment maker. Winnipeg-based Ag Growth International (AGI) said Monday it has signed a conditional letter of intent with Phoenix-based MyLand […] Read more


(Canada Border Services Agency video screengrab)

Canada taking first step toward lifting border restrictions

U.S. border restrictions still in place until at least June 21

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada on Wednesday took a cautious first step toward easing COVID-19 border restrictions, saying it was prepared to relax quarantine protocols for fully vaccinated citizens returning home starting in early July. Canada’s air and land borders have allowed for only essential travel since March of last year, and Canadians coming home […] Read more

(Exceldor video screengrab via YouTube)

Quebec names mediator in Exceldor poultry strike

Major chicken plant's workers off job since May 23

Reading Time: 2 minutes The Quebec government has brought in a mediator to try to restart labour talks that stalled ahead of a strike at one of the province’s biggest poultry plants. Provincial Labour Minister Jean Boulet on Friday named Helene Poulin as a special mediator on the labour dispute at the Exceldor poultry plant at Saint-Anselme, about 30 […] Read more


Video screengrab featuring an office at the JBS beef plant at Brooks, Alta. (JBS video via YouTube)

JBS Canada plant up and running after cyberattack

Brooks beef plant has 'resumed production'

Reading Time: 3 minutes Meat packer JBS’s major beef slaughter plant in Alberta went back to work Tuesday following a cyberattack reported to have downed several of the company’s operations in North America and Australia. JBS USA, the unit overseeing the Brazilian firm’s Canadian operations, and JBS-owned chicken unit Pilgrim’s Pride both reported “significant progress in resolving the cyberattack […] Read more

File photo of a container vessel being unloaded at a U.K. port. (Sterling750/iStock/Getty Images)

Trans-Pacific trade partners agree for U.K. to start joining process

Reading Time: < 1 minute Tokyo | Reuters — Member nations of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on Wednesday officially agreed to allow the United Kingdom to start the process of joining the pact, Japan’s economy minister said. Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters he welcomed the start of Britain’s joining process after hosting an […] Read more


James Battershill (right) speaks at the Prairie Research Kitchen in Winnipeg about the development of his blended beef and plant-based Bump product.

The people and the ideas behind food marketing

Canada’s food development centres are busier than ever with innovations and breakthroughs

Reading Time: 8 minutes For Canada, it’s been more than just a year of pandemic. It’s also been a year of new dreams and for forging ahead in new directions. In ag and food, new business ideas are bubbling up, and the drive is on for ways to lift them beyond the conceptual stage. Plus, our dinnertime routines and […] Read more

10 years of change in 10 months

Reading Time: 4 minutes For food entrepreneurs who pursue new market opportunities, there is no guarantee of success in a space where competition is fierce. Those most likely to succeed understand that beyond getting their product on the shelves, they have to get customers to notice and care about what they make and do. “We knew that one of […] Read more


(Sansubba/iStock/Getty Images)

Feather sector’s on-farm upgrade program underway

Applications now being accepted for funding

Reading Time: 3 minutes The federal free trade compensation program to help Canada’s poultry and egg producers pay for on-farm upgrades, renovations and improvements is now taking applications. The $646.8 million, 10-year Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program (PEFIP) is now formally underway, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced Monday. Each eligible Canadian producer is entitled to an amount proportional […] Read more

Canada/U.S. border signage in downtown Detroit. (RiverNorthPhotography/Getty Images)

U.S. requests CUSMA dispute panel on Canadian dairy quotas

TRQs improperly allocated, USTR alleges

Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The Biden administration on Tuesday escalated a simmering trade dispute with Canada over dairy import quotas, requesting that the first dispute settlement panel under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement be formed to review the matter. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said its complaint alleges that Canada was improperly allocating CUSMA tariff-rate import quotas […] Read more