Joe Lake departs as CEO of CFIN

The Canadian Food Innovation Network’s CEO, Joe Lake, will be departing the organization in early March as he assumes a new role as global VP, applied technology and innovation, at McCain Foods.

“I’ve absolutely loved my time at CFIN,” said Lake. “This organization has already proven to be a significant support system for food innovation in this country and as CFIN continues to evolve, its impact will continue to grow. I’m excited about the organization’s bright future and want to thank everyone – staff, board, and our CFIN Community – for making this an incredible experience for me.”

As CFIN’s first CEO, Joe played a key role in building the organization, attracting talent from across the country, and launching CFIN’s online connector platform, YODL. Under his leadership CFIN has awarded more than $8 million to 32 Canadian food tech projects.

“We can’t thank Joe enough for the commitment, passion, and leadership he brought to CFIN every single day,” said Sandy Somers, board chair, CFIN. “Despite being such a new organization, CFIN has exceeded expectations and Joe is a big reason why. We appreciate everything Joe has done for CFIN and wish him the best of luck on his new journey.”

In the interim, CFIN’s current executive team will continue to lead the organization.