October 6, 2009, Toronto – Maple Leaf Foods today revealed its state-of-the-art ThinkFOOD! Centre, a culinary innovation facility aiming to facilitate innovation and growth across Maple Leaf's global bakery and protein businesses.
The centre will be the hub where company experts in product development, brand innovation, food education, customer relationship development, consumer research and global trend tracking come together to share new product ideas and identify joint opportunities to bring innovation to life.
"We've created an innovative environment where all of our food innovators can work together under one roof in collaboration with customers and increase the speed-to-market for introducing exciting new food ideas from around the world," said Michael McCain, President and CEO of Maple Leaf Foods. "ThinkFOOD! is a place where we draw inspiration from a global food basket of ideas and innovate to create products that will delight the palates of our consumers and customers."
The $12 million centre occupies 25,000 square feet and operates as Maple Leaf’s product development hub, supporting customer research and product testing. ThinkFOOD! was designed to provide a central hands-on learning environment where employees can develop, share and collaborate on new food concepts with foodservice and retail customers.
The centre's culinary amenities include presentation kitchens, teaching and demonstration facilities, research labs, product development and sensory testing areas, simulated retail environments, and trends resource library.
"The centre is a hub for collaboration on great food and menu ideas, and a place where our employees are empowered to inspire, innovate and grow new areas to satisfy consumer tastes and build on our company culture that is passionate about food," said Mr. McCain.
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