Collaborative and Competitive Research

The Consortium RITA's competitive and collaborative research platform accelerates innovation by partnering with food processing companies to support research and development, facilitating the production and adoption of innovative products, technologies and processes. This platform aims to:

• Stimulate a culture of innovation, adaptability, and sustainability in Quebec’s food processing sector.
• Improve the productivity and competitiveness of the Quebec food processing industry.
• Seize business opportunities in national and international markets.

From our collaborators' perspective

"Olymel became a key collaborator of mine through a RITA-funded competitive research project after I joined McGill University in 2020. Together, we focused on a common goal: advancing meat and poultry microbiological safety and quality through the development of a portable instrument. This collaboration was invaluable in obtaining a recent grant from Genome Quebec-FRQNT for a project aimed at developing rapid detection tools for identifying pathogenic bacteria in poultry products. I am grateful to the Consortium RITA for initiating and fostering this productive partnership between my lab and Olymel."

- Dr. Xiaonan Lu

Professor and Ian & Jayne Munro Chair in Food Safety, McGill University
Learn more about the Lu Food Safety & Health Engineering Lab at McGill

"As the largest meat processing company in Canada, Olymel is proud to be the leader in quality and safety of meat products. For Olymel, this research project was more than desirable for our industry and represents a tremendous opportunity for Canada to stand out in the meat products sector. Meat spoilage is one of the leading concerns to meat industry. It generates significant economic loss and quality decay of meat products worldwide. It is really great to count on the dedicated and professional research team of Dr. Lu. The development of detection technology represents an important step forward as an additional monitoring tool in our quality management program."

- Sylvain Fournaise

Vice President, Food Safety, Quality Management and R&D, Olymel L.P.

Eligible Projects

The Consortium RITA welcomes projects from all food sectors in Quebec. Eligible projects include those based on product and process innovation, food safety, and supply chain management, with a promising scientific and technological basis and a particular focus on increasing long-term competitiveness. Projects must include a food processing company or sectoral association and a public research institution active in Quebec. Members of the supply chain and other partners with a vested interest are also encouraged to join the project.

Three Collaborative Research Project Streams

Les projets compétitifs menés par le Consortium RITA sont classés selon deux volets: les Projets d'innovation compétitifs et les Projets compétitifs accélérés. Ce dernier volet est réservé aux projets de recherche découlant d'une activité faisant partie de nos réseaux précompétitifs et vise à approfondir un sujet en application directe pour une ou plusieurs entreprises impliquées. Le dernier volet - Projets stratégiques sectoriels - est un type de projet précompétitif financé par RITA mais initié par l'industrie et pris en charge par l'institution de recherche menant le projet.

Consultez le Guide d'application pour connaître les critères d'admissibilité et les taux de financement détaillés. N'hésitez pas à consortiumrita [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Question%20-%20Appel%20de%20projets%20RITA) (nous contacter) pour toute question ou information supplémentaire.

Two types of projects make up the Consortium RITA's Competitive and Collaborative Research platform: Competitive Innovation Projects (Stream 1) and Accelerated Competitive Projects (Stream 2). The latter is reserved for research projects arising from our Pre-competitive Research Networks and aims to further explore a subject and apply findings for one or more companies involved. The third and final project stream - Sectorial Strategic Projects - is a type of pre-competitive project funded that is by RITA, but initiated by industry and managed by the research institution conducting the project.

See the Application Guide for detailed eligibility criteria and funding rates. Please do not hesitate to consortiumrita [at] mcgill.ca (contact us) if you have any questions or require further information.

Submit a Proposal

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