Restaurant & Dairy Farmer Risks, AI Drive-Thrus & Isabelle Marquis, Co-President of the SIAL Innovation Jury & Gold Award Winner Santiago Stacey, Chief Banana Officer, Ku Na Na!

About this episode

The episode features discussions on food innovation and industry challenges with guests Isabelle Marquis and Santiago Stacey.

This week on The Food Professor Podcast, Michael LeBlanc and Sylvain Charlebois sit down live at SIAL Canada 2026 in Montreal with both SIAL Innovation Co-President judge Isabele Marquis and Santiago Stacey, Chief Banana Officer and winner of the innovation gold award. Santiago shares how his new banana beverage Ku Na Na! is transforming rescued bananas into a groundbreaking plant-based beverage. Then, Michael and Sylvain unpack the week’s biggest food and agriculture stories—from restaurant sector pressures and dairy farming harsh realities to regulatory reform, AI in quick-service restaurant drive-throughs, and celebrate the legacy of Mandarin Restaurant founder James Chiu.

People in this episode

Hosts: Michael LeBlanc, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois

Guests: Isabelle Marquis, Santiago Stacey

Topics covered

• restaurant sector pressures
• dairy farming
• regulatory reform
• AI in quick-service restaurants
• food innovation
• plant-based beverages

Keywords

• restaurant
• dairy farming
• AI drive-thrus
• food innovation
• plant-based beverage
• SIAL Canada
• Ku Na Na!

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: SIAL Canada, Ku Na Na!

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