Food Inflation 2023, Sylvain Testifies and Special Guest Kelly Long, CEO, Noble Premium Bison

An action-packed episode as we get the story behind the story of the latest edition, the 13th, of Canada's Food Price Report, plus hear all about Sylvain's day testifying in Ottawa in front of the parliamentary committee on the cost of food along with a whole cast of characters.

Our special guest for this episode is Kelly Long, CEO of Noble Premium Bison.  

https://noblepremiumbison.com/

A reminder to the people not to sleep on, as the kids would say, our most excellent interview with Christine Cruz-Clarke, CEO of Balzac's Coffee, recorded live in person at the Coffee Association of Canada's conference here in Toronto…

We stop in with our good friends Gurth Pretty and Maelle Rey-Marechal from SIAL at Gurth's Lakeview Cheese - getting all geared up for SIAL here in Toronto in May - we are once again the official podcast of SIAL!

We should also mention that once again, we are sponsoring the Canadian Grand Prix New Product Awards, presented by Retail Council of Canada, the deadline for submissions is December 31, 2022

Canada's Food Price Report

Cooking with Bison!

About Kelly

In 2004, Kelly Long introduced Canadian bison to an eager yet untapped European market. An award-winning agricultural entrepreneur and marketer, Kelly and her husband and partner, Pieter Spinder, grew the company and their business to ultimately become a valuable acquisition for one of the largest bison producers in North America.

Fast forward to 2017 with a new brand, Noble Premium Bison, a new partner, producer Doug Griller, and a new mission - to position Canadian grass-raised bison as the meat to beat, and make Noble Premium Bison one of the most sought-after red meat products at both retail and foodservice in both Canada and Europe.

Kelly brings a wealth of knowledge in the vertical integration of raising, producing, and exporting premium bison meat. As CEO of Noble Premium Bison, Kelly Long believes in elevating the bar in all aspects of business. As one of Canada’s recognized female entrepreneurs, Kelly continues to be at the forefront of the bison industry—an industry trending towards species sustainability, land regeneration and consumer transparency.

About Us

Dr. 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 venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue,  his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!

About Us

Dr. 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.