Taking Greeds Measure, Cyber Troubles and Special Guest David Carsley, Head of Industry, Google

In this episode, Sylvain and I discuss excess profits, how and why the Agri-Foods Analytics lab came up with the term and that number, and what Sylvain wants Canadians to take away from the exercise.

Breaking news: we take on IT troubles in the food business in Canada…then more breaking news: lettuce pray for lettuce in trouble again.

Michelin guide comes to Canada/Toronto/Vancouver - our last season guest Cory Mintz is not a fan. Cities invest big money to attract the Michelin guide.  https://guide.michelin.com/en/ca/restaurants/1-star-michelin/2-stars-michelin

The Craft Beer market in Ontario is not so frothy: is it a case of too many micros chasing too few draught taps in a tapped-out, quasi-post covid market?  https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/11/04/future-of-ontarios-craft-brewery-industry-not-so-frothy.html

Read Greedflation 3 report here: https://www.dal.ca/sites/agri-fod/research/greedflation-3.html

Our guest this episode is David Carsley, Head of Industry, Google Marketing Platform, talking about the insight, work and services for the food and foodservice business that Google has to offer.

As a reminder to everyone in six sleeps, we will be podcasting live and interviewing a slate of guests at the upcoming Canadian Coffee Association Conference in Toronto at the Globe and Mail Centre on November 14.   Get your tickets today and come by and say hello. Our guests will include Christine Cruz-Clarke, CEO of Balzac’s, Kate Burnett, CEO of Bridgehead coffee, and Benjamin Tal, Deputy Chief Economist from CIBC…

Links mentioned in the interview:

1. Digitalmaturitybenchmark.withgoogle.com -> A self-service tool for companies to measure their digital marketing maturity. The survey was built in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group.

2. ThinkwithGoogle.com ->  Google's hub to see all kinds of case studies from companies that have grown their business using Google's technology.

3. Google Trends -> Explore what the world is searching in real time.

4. Google Analytics 4 -> Google's unified app and web analytics tool.
 

About David
As Head of Industry at Google, David advises Canadian companies on how to leverage the best of Google's marketing technology to drive profitable growth and future-proof their businesses. David's guiding principles are Empathy, Honesty and Humility -- traits he believes are necessary to build meaningful connections both professionally and personally. He lives in Oakville with his wife Leora and two dogs Brella and Gilligan.

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.