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Conestoga Food Research & Innovation Lab

Conestoga Food Research & Innovation Lab

As an applied food research lab, the Conestoga Food Research & Innovation Lab (CFRIL) meets the needs of industry through education, training, research, and technical expertise. Our advanced facilities are essential in providing solutions for small, medium, and large businesses in the food and culinary sector. Our focus is to work with partners to provide innovative solutions and support throughout the product development cycle, including formula development, shelf-life studies, packaging testing, and scale-up using our pilot plant equipment. 

In 2023 CFRIL was awarded the Minister's Award of Excellence and the Excellence in Research and Innovation award from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 

Partner intake form

Facilities and services

Inspire innovation

With access to culinary facilities, faculty and support staff, CFRIL can support your innovation strategy by providing a focused, on- or off-site innovation and ideation session to:

  • Access our research and teaching facilities and equipment
  • Collaborate with our chefs on product line extensions or new product ideas
  • Test new product ideas using our equipment 

Our packaging faculty can support your next packaging innovation with prototyping equipment and extensive laboratory analysis:

  • Collaborate with faculty on new packaging ideas
  • Prototype packaging concepts

Our partners can also access Bloom, Conestoga's full-service restaurant at the Waterloo campus, which boasts a state-of-the-art culinary skills lab.

Virtual tour

Take a virtual tour of our facility located at our Cambridge - Fountain Street campus.

Take the tour

CFRIL impact

A pair of hands with particles in between

Shelf-life extension of frozen keto bakery products

Sugar Daddies Bakery Inc., a keto-friendly bakery with locations in Cambridge and Hamilton, including a production facility within the Cambridge retail outlet, specializes in offering keto lemon and Nanaimo bars.
 A row of sauces in cups

Packaging feasibility study

Atare Foods produces a range of African-inspired sauces packaged in glass jars and sold directly to consumers. However, due to the weight of their products, Atare Foods faces extra shipping costs that affect their bottom line.
ketchup in a dish

Real-time and accelerated shelf-life study

Good Food for Good partnered with CFRIL to provide data to inform decision-making regarding product shelf-life and investigate alternative sustainable packaging for their ketchup. 

Our team

Nicole Detlor

Nicole Detlor, M.Sc., P.Eng.

Director, Conestoga Food Research & Innovation Lab

Sujit Abraham headshot

Sujit Abraham 

Research associate

By the numbers (2022) 

Square feet of pilot plant space
In funded projects
Industry partners engaged over 5 years

Contact us

See how the Conestoga Food Research & Innovation Lab can help you access faculty expertise, student employees, and the college's innovative lab spaces and equipment.

850 Fountain Street South

Cambridge, Ontario N3H 0A8, Canada

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