Students win $2,000 bursary

Toronto – Food and Beverage Ontario FBO’s Taste Your Future program announced the winners of its inaugural Stir Up a Career campaign.

The campaign launched earlier this year and was open to Ontario high school or university students with an innovative idea for the food and beverage industry.

In a statement, FBO says the winners include University of Guelph student Danielle Laforest in the Maker & Designer category.

Laforest won for her Pure Herb product idea, which are “frozen herbs packaged into meal- and cocktail-themed kits to help reduce food waste and inspire home cooks and cocktail makers.”

McMaster University student Angie Ibrahim won in the Scientist, Programmer, or Engineer category for her ICI Water product idea.

Her idea is to make “room temperature beverages feel cold by infusing them with a flavourless compound that stimulates the mouth’s coldness receptors.”

The winners will each receive a $2,000 bursary, “mentorship from an Ontario processor, resume building support from FoodGrads and business resources from Food Starter to help them pursue their interests in food and beverage processing,” says the statement.

Nicole Gallace, founder of FoodGrads and a contest judge, says the food and beverage industry offers many more opportunities than most young people realize.

“There are more than 170 programs at 29 universities and colleges that will help lead to careers processing, from engineering to marketing, along with specialty positions from food scientist to brew master,” says Gallace.

“It’s an exciting time to choose a career in food and beverage processing.”

Other judges included Michael Burrows, chair of the FBO board and CEO of Maple Lodge Farms; Dana McCauley, executive director of Food Starter; and Carson Walsh, process engineer at Mondelez Canada.

For more on the winners and the contest, visit TasteYourFuture.ca/contest