Ottawa's price gouging investigation, supply chain task force report and special guest Jane Dummer

Highlights from this episode:  Ottawa's price gouging investigation, supply chain task force report and special guest Jane Dummer 

We open the show with a discussion about the Thanksgiving Holiday - best gravy ever, and Sylvain's love for the hot new trend, butter boards!  On a more serious and helpful level, Sylvain has joined joined the BOD of Second Harvest with our season one guest Lori Nikkel.  Why and what is ahead for Second Harvest?

A reminder to the listeners that we’ll be together live podcasting from the Coffee Association of Canada’s annual conference, The Road Ahead, November 14th - will put a link in the show notes  - run, don’t walk to get your tickets today

I’m just back from Las Vegas and the big NACS show and share my experiences - a look at the convenience store industry and I had the opportunity to speak with S1 guest and friend of the show Cara Keating from Pepsico - former president of the Canadian business  - now chief customer officer of Frito Lay North America - a graduate btw of University of Saskatchewan so we know she is hard working in addition to being super smart - and breaking news will be a guest on the show later in the season

Big report just out from the federal government  - National Supply Chain Task Force - I know the lab supported the report, you are thanked specifically in the report, a whole cast of characters testified - RCC, CFIG, Sobeys, tell the listeners about the report and perhaps a summary of its findings - it would seem when it comes to the supply chain actors the total is not greater than the sum of its parts

Loblaw driverless trucks signal the beginning of a new age - you see a more interesting road ahead for the food industry - say more….

Alright lets get to our great interview with Jane Dummer and hear what she has to say about the state of food innovation in North America

…and so Canada’s three big supermarket chains will face a parliamentary inquiry into whether they have been exploiting surging inflation to boost their profits, adding a fresh chapter to the big grocers’ protracted public relations struggle.

The House of Commons agriculture committee voted unanimously in favour of a motion to summon grocery executives to Parliament Hill to explain why “large chains are making profits” while shoppers face the worst food retail inflation in four decades .

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About Jane

Jane founded her consulting company in 1996 with the mission to develop client focused solutions from the pod to plate. A well-respected thought leader in the food industry with credentials as a Registered Dietitian and Nutrition Science degree from University of Guelph (Canada’s leading food university), Jane is the Real Deal. Jane and her team’s education, expertise and industry knowledge maximize their capacity to strategize, innovate and communicate customized solutions to accelerate business growth from the pod to plate. With over 60 successful projects, Jane and her team partner with North American food and beverage companies in the agriculture, nutrition and health sectors to build creative solutions that deliver results. A speaker, author and writer, Jane is a frequent guest and commentator in the media circuit with over 250 insightful interviews, presentations, articles and blogs.

Here are my social links:

LinkedIn https://ca.linkedin.com/in/janedummer

Twitter - https://twitter.com/janedummer

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/janedummer_rd/

Website - www.janedummer.com

About Us

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.

He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.

Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre’s Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa.

Michael LeBlanc  is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice.   He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.  Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast,       The Voice of Retail, plus  Global E-Commerce Tech Talks  ,      The Food Professor  with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois and now in its second season, Conversations with CommerceNext!  You can learn more about Michael   here  or on     LinkedIn. 

Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue,  his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!

About Us

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Visiting Professor in Food Policy and Distribution at McGill University and a Professor in Food Distribution and Policy in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University.

Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. He is one of the world’s most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability with over 775 published peer-reviewed journal articles. Dr. Charlebois is also an editor for the prestigious Trends in Food Science Technology journal. 

He co-hosts The Food Professor podcast, discussing issues in the food, foodservice, grocery and restaurant industries and which is the most listened Canadian management podcast in Canada. 

Every year since 2012, he has published the now highly anticipated Canadian Food Price Report, which provides an overview of food price trends for the coming year. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, nationally as well as internationally. He has testified on several occasions before parliamentary committees on food policy-related issues as an expert witness. He has been asked to act as an advisor on food and agricultural policies in many Canadian provinces and other countries.

With extensive experience collaborating with businesses, governments, and NGOs, Dr. Charlebois combines academic rigor with practical expertise, making him one of the most influential voices in the global agri-food landscape. His work continues to advance the understanding of food systems, fostering innovation and resilience in a rapidly evolving industry. In 2025, he received the prestigious Charles III medal recognizing his tremendous work in informing Canadians about food issues.

 Michael LeBlanc is a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions hosted senior retail executive on-stage in 1:1 interviews worldwide. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including The Remarkable Retail Podcast, The Voice of Retail, The Food Professor, The FEED powered by Loblaw and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast.  He has been recognized by the National Retail Federation (NRF) as a global Top Retail Voice for 2025 and 2025, and continues to be a ReThink Retail Top Retail Expert for the fifth year in a row.