Margaret Hudson, President at Burnbrae Farms and 2020 Golden Pencil award recipient is our special guest and we talk eggs, California wildfires impact on the food supply in Canada and the second wave

Welcome to the The Food Professor podcast episode 9, I’m Michael LeBlanc, and I’m Sylvain Charlebois!Back to School Professor!  How will your work life be different, what does university life look like for your students, and what does that mean for the foodservice industry that takes care of feeding tens of thousands of students coast-to-coast?Winter is coming. Patio season is almost over for most of Canada - what comes next for the restaurant industry: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/patio-season-over-restaurants-pandemic-1.5712856  .  The news keeps getting worse for the sector (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6936a5.htm?s_cid=mm6936a5_w) talk about how the restaurant economy can be saved, or at least is worth saving and what New Brunswick is doing to help: https://www.retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2020/9/dont-want-to-save-the-restaurant-industry-fine-but-use-it-to-save-the-economySpecial Guest: Margaret Hudson, President Burnbrae Farms: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-hudson-521a7a9/Nobody panic, its the second wave: assess the stability, durability of the food supply chain as we (may or may not) be heading into a second waveLets talk about the weather in California/Oregon - how will wildfires and other challenges in California impact Canadians and the food supplyWhats Poppin?!? The Popeye's Chicken sandwich is about to hit Canada and it's a big deal!  https://www.680news.com/2020/09/14/the-popeyes-chicken-sandwich-is-finally-available-at-all-canadian-restaurants/. Factoids: Popeyes sold 203 million chicken sandwiches in the past year; Texas sold the most chicken sandwiches in the last 12 months; and the most sandwiches sold by one store in one day was 3,582 sandwiches on November 3, 2019.******Thanks to Margaret Hudson from Burnbrae Farms for being our guest on this episode of The Food Professor podcast!If you liked what you heard you can subscribe on Apple iTunes , Spotify or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the grocery, foodservice,  or restaurant industry.    I’m Michael LeBlanc, producer and host of The Voice of Retail podcast and a bunch of other stuff, and I’m Sylvain Charlebois!Have a safe week everyone! 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.