Maple Leaf Foods Makes Big Changes

Here’s a fun fact you may not know about me: I’m a trained scientist. Yup, I spent years studying everything from human biology to chemistry. The one course I found mind boggling? Nutrition. I was overwhelmed by how complex food labelling had become over the years. With the list of ingredients getting longer and longer to increase shelf life/yields, I found myself getting dizzy just thinking about it. Navigating through the grocery store aisles became daunting. Even I, as a scientist, couldn’t recognize some of the ingredients! Fast forward a few years and I am now a mom of one (very cute, very hungry) baby boy who is plowing through solids with his new, shiny teeth. So you can imagine how much I scrutinize each label before placing items in my grocery basket! Thankfully, there are companies like Maple Leaf Foods who are leading the real food movement. Their goal is simple: to make products that parents can feel good feeding their families so a trip to the grocery store isn’t anxiety-inducing…

How are they doing this? They have revamped their ENTIRE portfolio so all products are made with Maple Leaf’s premium meat and real, simple, or natural ingredients. Better yet, they’ve committed to using pronounceable ingredients that consumers trust and can find in their pantry…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im5EtWeUDV0

And no, this isn’t just some clever marketing ploy designed to move product off the shelf. After a visit to Maple Leaf Foods HQ, I can vouch for how committed the entire team is to producing delicious, good, healthy proteins for families. They’re in it for the long run and want to keep building consumer trust and loyalty. So much so that they really took the time (18 months to be exact) to scrutinize all of their products ingredient-by-ingredient so they can deliver on their real food promise. They even have a manifesto proudly displayed throughout their offices to remind employees what they stand for…

While onsite, I had a chance to chat with food scientists, chefs, employees and even Michael McCain (president and CEO) to get a sense of all the work that has gone into making these bold changes. I can tell you this: revamping the entire portfolio is certainly no small feat. Oh and did I mention all of their products will contain NO artificial preservatives, flavours, colours or sweeteners?! But don’t worry — it will taste just as good. Or even better: Vince Camua (their manager of ham — yes this magical job exists) told us that when they put their new ham up against the old recipe it was a bigger hit! We had a chance to taste test some grilled ham and it was soooo good. But my fave was the bacon:

OMG and the chicken!! Both the strips and the breasts are a staple at our home and still taste amazing after all of the changes…

I also had a chance to taste some products I’ve never tried before. Chef James Keppy used Maple Leaf Natural Selections Slow Roasted Shredded Pork to whip up three different recipes for us. I couldn’t believe how versatile and easy the product was!! It’s perfect for those looking for a quick meal for family/friends. His shredded pork tacos were my fave:

Beyond what Maple Leaf Foods is doing for consumers on the real food movement side, I was really impressed by their focus on sustainability. They have bold goal of becoming the most sustainable protein company on earth and have committed to reducing their environmental footprint (everything from emissions to waste) by 50 percent by 2025!! But that’s not all… they also launched the Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security in late 2016 to reduce food insecurity in Canada by 50% by 2030. I had no clue! I’m so glad I already support this incredible brand and now I can be even more proud that I do. Many companies could take these steps, but haven’t. It’s great to see such strong leadership and vision coming from a Canadian business. Can’t wait to see what they do next!

A huge thanks to Maple Leaf Foods for inviting me to their HQ to get a better understanding of how the company operates and for sponsoring this post. As always, all reviews and opinions are our own.