Maple Leaf Foods ThinkFOOD! Centre

Maple Leaf Foods opened the ThinkFOOD! centre in Ontario, Canada, on 6 October 2009. It provides a learning environment where product developers can innovate, develop, share and collaborate on food concepts and menu ideas with food service and retail customers.

The 25,000ft2 facility brings together product development, brand creation, food education, customer relationship development, consumer research and global trend monitoring under one roof.

The C$12m centre is near Maple Leaf Foods’ corporate office in Meadowvale North Business Park in the city of Mississauga. The centre features a main food service kitchen, presentation kitchens, sensory testing and product development areas, teaching facilities and a culinary library.

The company

Maple Leaf Foods is one of the leading packaged food companies in Canada. The company has three business units. The protein value chain produces and sells fresh and processed packaged meats and chilled meal entrees along with value-added pork, poultry and turkey products. The agribusiness unit includes swine production and rendering, and biodiesel production operations. The company operates a bakery products group, which has 89.8% ownership of Canada Bread.

Innovation centre facilities

The facility’s main food service kitchen – Open Kitchen – is used for product development. It features workspaces for up to 24 product developers and is equipped with state-of-the-art utensils.

Kitchen Stage is a retail demonstration kitchen and promotes direct customer involvement in the product development process. The kitchen can also be used for film recording and live broadcasts.

The Back-of-House kitchen is a food service demonstration kitchen equipped with portable cooking instruments and simulates a kitchen of a food service site. Mom’s Kitchen features domestic appliances and simulates an average consumer’s kitchen. The adjacent viewing room, separated by a two-way mirror, can be used to conduct focus groups.

The centre also includes a 124-seat theatre, FORUM. It is equipped with full audio-visual and broadcast tools along with a food service island for demonstrations. A complete resource centre on food and food service is also available inside the facility. The Information Cafe features books, journals, periodicals and magazines that can be also be accessed online. There are also small chat rooms for discussions and debates.

The Marketplace has a simulated retail area with a full service delicatessen, refrigerated display units and bakery products.

Labs have been developed for brainstorming sessions and production development. The entire development process of a product from its raw and cooked stage to final packaging is carried out in the development lab, which meets all regulatory standards. A testing bar provides a space for sensory panels.

Sustainability

The ThinkFOOD! building’s sustainable features correspond to the rating system categories of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

The building achieves 20% more energy efficiency by using advanced HVAC/mechanical systems and high-efficiency boilers. The building’s lighting controls also contribute to energy saving as they prevent the use of more than 1W per square foot for lighting.

A unique ventilation system with demand control helps to conserve energy depending on the number of occupants. The building’s fan-powered boxes also contribute to energy conservation by promoting constant air changes. Base system loads are powered by green energy.

The building’s ThermoPlastic Olefin white roof reflects the sun and helps reduce heat. During construction, more than 50% of waste was diverted from landfill. About 40% of the building materials used in construction came from the local area and was recycled.

Perennial ornamental grasses were planted in islands in the car park. Maple Leaf Foods encourage practices such as cleaning specifications and recycling programmes that include food waste and organics with diversion from landfill targets of over 80% along with tenant education programmes.

The sustainable features incorporated into the facility’s design helped it achieve the LEED Core and Shell Gold certification, awarded by the US Green Building Council in September 2010.