Argopur
has narrowed the list to three for its Inno Challenge which aims to identify
ideas that will expand the demand for milk.
Sixt-three
entries came from eight countries for this, the first Inno Challenge.
It's a great idea. Agropur gets cheap access to great ideas and the innovators get a crack at a huge market via one of Canada's largest dairy processors.
The three
finalists are:
Marc Purcell
and Nathalie Miller of
Quebec, serial entrepreneurs who are enthusiastic about teaming up with a major
Canadian cooperative to bring their latest creation to grocery store shelves;
Martin
Macouzet, Ph.D.,
an inventor who has been refining a dairy product concept for years, and
Institut
de technologie des emballages et du génie alimentaire (ITEGA), which joined forces with
the leading communications agency LG2 to develop a project that bridges
research, consumer wants and the dairy industry's needs.
The
three selected respondents were chosen after thorough examination of the files
by the Inno Challenge jury.
"We
were very excited about the number, the diversity and especially the quality of
the submissions," said Robert Coallier, chief executive officer of
Agropur.
"
We believe there is incredible potential to reinvent dairy products. We are
very eager to work with these creative thinkers to co-develop revolutionary
products through open innovation."
Over the
next 16 weeks, the selected respondents will work with Agropur's experts on a
weekly basis to co-develop the selected concepts and bring them to the
prototype stage.
Throughout
the process, they will have access to Agropur's innovation know-how and
facilities, work space at the Quartier de l'innovation, and AG-Bio Centre's
business development consulting services.
On May 31 and June 1, 2017, they will face the
ultimate presentation and taste test when the prototypes are finally unveiled
at Agropur Inno Expo.
The Inno
Challenge call went out to creators in Quebec, Canada and the entire world in
October 2016.
Participants
had seven weeks to come up with proposals for innovative dairy solutions.
