As part of its thematic year, CIRANO organized a colloquium and workshops on February 28, 2024 in Quebec City on the theme “Accelerating the transition to a sustainable and innovative biofood sector.” This event was held in collaboration with the Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation (MAPAQ) in preparation for the update of the 2018–2025 Biofood Policy. Over 80 participants took part in this exceptional day of productive exchanges between CIRANO's research community and representatives of nearly 20 government departments and agencies from Quebec and the federal government.

Minister André Lamontagne's speech in the morning was an opportunity to thank the participants. The Minister also highlighted the importance of this process for exchanging ideas on the challenges and priorities of the biofood sector beyond 2025, in order to support the development of the Policy's ambitions and objectives.

The aim of this exercise was also to highlight CIRANO's expertise and research results, an objective that was fully achieved. Guests had the opportunity to listen to presentations by CIRANO's principal researchers in the Sustainable Development and Agri-Food theme, Annie Royer (Université Laval), Sophie Bernard (Polytechnique Montréal) and Lota Tamini (Université Laval), as well as other CIRANO researchers such as David Talbot (ENAP), Bernard Korai (Université Laval), Jacinthe Cloutier (Université Laval), Nathalie de Marcellis-Warin (Polytechnique Montréal) and Daniel Caron (ENAP). Several CIRANO researchers also contributed to the discussion tables, including Patrick Mundler (Université Laval), Laure Saulais (Université Laval) and Thierry Warin (HEC Montréal). Ingrid Peignier, CIRANO's Senior Director of Partnerships and Research Valorization, organized the entire event, with the support of Sarah Elimam, CIRANO's Executive Assistant - Academic Partnerships and Special Projects.

The day was a major milestone in propelling the Quebec biofood sector towards a sustainable and innovative future!