Canadian Grand Prix New Product Awards Finalist Bonus episode: Meet Mike Primucci, Mimi Foods

Welcome to a special bonus episode celebrating the 29th ANNUAL CANADIAN GRAND PRIX NEW PRODUCT AWARDSSylvain and I are thrilled to be a sponsor of these prestigious awards for the third year in a row and have the chance to hand out the hardware on the stage to the winners in person for the first time!We had the opportunity to meet and get to know many fantastic food innovators and entrepreneurs, creators and makers - from consumer brands to private retail labels.   These are their stories.In this episode, meet Mike Primucci, Mimi FoodsURL Mentioned in the podcast: https://chefduo.ca/ Thanks for joining us on this special bonus episode of The Food Professor. Stay tuned for plenty of great interviews of the finalists from the Retail Council of Canada's Canadian Grand Prix New Product Awards. And stay tuned for our regular full-length episodes available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google - wherever you enjoy your podcasts today.   About Mike:MiMi Foods 'Artistic Dough Products'Dedicated to developing and delivering premium quality products and exceptional customer service through operational excellence, innovative product development, client training and support, excellence in food safety, and doing it all with ARTISTIC PASSION. BRC and HACCP Certified.SPECIALITIES: Pizza dough manufacturing and related pizza products consisting of:Pizza Dough Balls, Par-baked Crusts, Sheeted Doughs, Flatbreads, Ciabatta's, Focaccia's, Pinsa Romana, Panuozzo Breads, Gluten Free Products (Cauliflower, Red Lentil, Broccoli, Black Bean, Beetroot, Quinoa and Keto). Products available in various shapes, sizes and flavours.WHAT SETS UP APART is our ability to custom formulate products. Our R&D team works closely with our customers to develop and produce proprietary formulations such as the 2012 Canadian Grocery Grand Prix Winner for Innovation for the Focaccia Toscana product.PROUD developer and supplier for the pizza dough used in the 'Guinness World Record' for most pizza's made in one hour, held by Bob Blumer of the 'Glutton for Punishment' TV show.Link to article on MiMi Foods- Canadian Business Executive:http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?EID=e5608c2e-0380-481d-8180-e0fe91c03a77FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & INSTAGRAM ~ @mimifoodsLEARN MORE about MiMi Foods at www.mimifoods.caAbout UsDr. Sylvain CharleboisDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre’s Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa.Michael LeBlanc  is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice.   He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.  Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast,       The Voice of Retail, plus  Global E-Commerce Tech Talks  ,      The Food Professor  with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois and now in its second season, Conversations with CommerceNext!  You can learn more about Michael   here  or on     LinkedIn. Be sure and check out Michael's latest adventure for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue,  his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!  About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Visiting Professor in Food Policy and Distribution at McGill University and a Professor in Food Distribution and Policy in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University.Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. He is one of the world’s most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability with over 775 published peer-reviewed journal articles. Dr. Charlebois is also an editor for the prestigious Trends in Food Science Technology journal. He co-hosts The Food Professor podcast, discussing issues in the food, foodservice, grocery and restaurant industries and which is the most listened Canadian management podcast in Canada. Every year since 2012, he has published the now highly anticipated Canadian Food Price Report, which provides an overview of food price trends for the coming year. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, nationally as well as internationally. He has testified on several occasions before parliamentary committees on food policy-related issues as an expert witness. He has been asked to act as an advisor on food and agricultural policies in many Canadian provinces and other countries.With extensive experience collaborating with businesses, governments, and NGOs, Dr. Charlebois combines academic rigor with practical expertise, making him one of the most influential voices in the global agri-food landscape. His work continues to advance the understanding of food systems, fostering innovation and resilience in a rapidly evolving industry. In 2025, he received the prestigious Charles III medal recognizing his tremendous work in informing Canadians about food issues. Michael LeBlanc is a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions hosted senior retail executive on-stage in 1:1 interviews worldwide. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including The Remarkable Retail Podcast, The Voice of Retail, The Food Professor, The FEED powered by Loblaw and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast.  He has been recognized by the National Retail Federation (NRF) as a global Top Retail Voice for 2025 and 2025, and continues to be a ReThink Retail Top Retail Expert for the fifth year in a row.