Do you know that Québec City boasts the largest group of researchers in Canada dedicated to the study of foods and their ingredients? The Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF) is located here. It focuses on food research and analysis and the complex interactions between food ingredients, nutrition and health.

Founded in the early 2000s at the Université Laval, the INAF is part of the Faculté des sciences de l’agriculture et de l’alimentation (FSAA). It also has close links with the faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy as well as with several other university research centres.

This institution is home for various specialized entities, including:

• The innovation support service
• Centre de recherche en sciences et technologie du lait (STELA)
• Food Quality Observatory

Are you interested in using science to improve our food? Discover how the INAF can support your mission on the Institute of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods website.

Do you know about the CRIUCPQ? This active research centre is a world research leader in cardiology, pulmonology and obesity/metabolism. These fields are considered a priority because of their economic and societal impact, and they are also subsidized by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS).

Would you like to know more about the centre’s work? Visit the CRIUCPQ website’s Research Centre page.

What is the AG-Bio Centre? It’s an incubator-accelerator located in Lévis that supports the growth of innovative businesses in:

• Agri-food
• Biotechnology
• Environmental sciences

It offers entrepreneurial support with an open innovation approach. In addition, it also provides access to an environment conducive to business technology research and development, including:

• Laboratories
• Offices 
• Customized administrative services

Would you like to be part of one of their support programs or their facilities? Consult AG-Bio Centre’s website.

At TransBIOTech, you enter a major biotechnology research and transfer centre that provides research and technical assistance services to life sciences and biotechnology companies. Among other things, it develops proof of concepts and innovation projects that aim to improve health in:

• Functional nutrition
• Nutraceuticals
• Pharmaceuticals
• Cosmetics and cosmeceuticals
• Natural health products

Would you like to know more? Visit the TransBIOTech website.

Mycélium is an accelerator and incubator dedicated to businesses in the food processing industry that wish to improve the existing food offer with an innovative product or process that has a positive and durable impact on health, the economy, society or the environment. Mycélium proposes an improved and innovative incubation model that leverages the regional business network, the expertise of its stakeholders and the talent of several scientists of the Université Laval’s Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF).

Visit the website for more information.

The INRS is a research and training institution exclusively dedicated to graduate studies. It is present in several of the province’s cities, and has 4 research centres. Québec City is home to their Water, Land and Environment Centre.

In this centre you will find the Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory (LBE), which has multidisciplinary expertise and advanced equipment for:

• Fermentation processes development and scaling
• Recovery, purification and characterization of various microbial derivatives

Do you need more information about this research centre and their services for agri-food businesses? Read the Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory’s document on the INRS’ Centre Eau, Terre, Environnement website.

Have you heard of CRIQ before? This research centre is an organization under the Ministry of Economy and Innovation and is dedicated to research and industrial innovation.

It offers a wide range of services to businesses and organizations to help them find innovative solutions to their challenges in:

• Productivity
• Export
• Competitiveness 
• Industrial eco-efficiency

It has state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to carry out the research and development, as well as testing, demonstrations and specialized analyzes for its customers. It has, among others, the largest pilot extraction plant in the province of Québec.

Eager to know how to benefit from CRIQ's expertise? Visit the Centre de recherche industrielle de Québec website.

Are you wondering what the CDBQ does? Well, it is a centre that provides support services for innovation and technology transfer to companies in the following sectors:

• Food processing
• Agri-environment
• Biotechnologies
• Agricultural economics

It helps them through its diverse expertise in these areas and by incubating companies. It also has a team and all the equipment and facilities necessary to:

• Develop niche or local products 
• Explore functional foods
• Experiment with new crops Start a food processing business

Is this of interest to you? Find out more about its services on the Centre de développement bioalimentaire de Québec website.