Restaurants fired up for new food festival

Winnipeg has a new food festival on the menu.

The inaugural Dine and Discover Downtown, hosted by the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, runs from March 11 to 22 with 31 neighbourhood restaurants participating.

Kate Fenske, CEO of the BIZ, was enjoying a meal of popcorn shrimp at Capital Grill & Bar on Broadway when the restaurant’s owner, chef Wayne Martin, pitched her on the idea of a food festival focused on Winnipeg’s central neighbourhood.

The pandemic was lingering at the time and local eateries were suffering from a lack of foot traffic.

Restaurant sector advocate pushes province for wholesale discount on liquor prices

Ravi Ramberran thinks he spends too much money on booze. The Winnipeg entrepreneur estimates he spends about $250,000 annually on beer and spirits across the two restaurants he owns.

Canada Packers reports Q4 results as an independent after spin off from Maple Leaf

Canada Packers Inc. chief executive Dennis Organ said the pork producer is focused on building durability, as it reported its first full quarter since it was spun off from Maple Leaf Foods Inc. last year.

Organ told a conference call Wednesday to discuss the company's latest results that it is "still squarely in chapter one," focused on building financial stability. However, he said the company remains open to taking on opportunities — such as mergers and acquisitions.

When Canada Packers moves to its next stage, Organ said the investments will be the kind that "are easy to explain to investors why it makes sense."

He said it will focus on cost synergies that are easy to execute, giving an example of pig ears sold to small shops that smoke and sell them as pet treats.

Denmark is set to explore if gastronomy can be recognized as an art form

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Imagine dining on “edible plastic” made from algae and collagen from fish skins. While you ingest the dish, ocean-borne plastic pollution seemingly floats above you, projected across the restaurant’s huge domed ceiling. It’s an experience — and dish — inspired by large garbage patches found in our seas.

In Denmark, chef Rasmus Munk doesn't offer dishes at the Alchemist restaurant. Instead, he whisks guests on an “immersive dining experience” combining performance, music, projections in its planetarium-like domed dining room, and, of course, food.

Opened in 2019 at the site of a former industrial harbor area in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, Alchemist was named the world’s fifth-best restaurant in 2025. It has two Michelin stars, signifying excellence in cuisine, out of a maximum three possible for one establishment.

Guests at this restaurant can experience 50 “impressions,” most of them edible. Dining there means trying various foods — a large eyeball dish featuring caviar and codfish eye gel, nettle butterflies served atop cheese and artichoke leaves — over many hours, in a slow process that invites reflection on the food and surrounding projections.

It’s a little taste of Hawaii in a pie. Coconut custard meets pineapple upside-down topping

When I think of Hawaii, I think of coconut trees softly swaying above white beaches with big blue waves crashing against the shore, and I think of the many days I spent swimming and drying off in the sun while eating pineapple. I have tried to capture these feelings with this pie from my cookbook “50 Pies, 50 States."

A popular dessert in Hawaii is haupia, or coconut custard, which is the main component of my pie, paired with pineapple to set it apart. This coconut cream pie has a graham cracker crust, a pineapple upside-down cake topping and a little ’60s flair.

The cold-set pie can be made a day in advance, but don’t make the pineapple topping until you are ready to serve!

Coconut Cream Pie with Pineapple Upside-Down Topping

‘Wine tonight?:’ Statistics Canada data shows liquor store sales down another year

Having alcohol in the home felt like an eternal struggle for Andrea Pain.

"I always (had) that dialogue with myself about, 'Am I going to have a glass of wine tonight?" the Burlington, Ont., resident said in a phone interview.

"'No, maybe I shouldn't, but I really want one.' And I would keep going back and forth."

Then, last year, an idea she had drained her mental turmoil.

Middle East conflict could drive up costs across Canada’s supply chains: experts

OTTAWA - Analysts are warning the conflict in the Middle East could drive up costs across Canada's supply chains and compound price pressures at the grocery store.

Global oil prices have risen sharply in recent days as Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iran threaten to escalate into a wider conflict and turn the Strait of Hormuz — a critical channel for global energy shipments — into a choke point.

"Because 20 per cent of the world's oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, it's having an effect on oil prices," said Fraser Johnson, professor of operations management at Western University's Ivey Business School.

"This is an old-fashioned supply and demand issue."

3M Canadian adults taking GLP-1 drugs, reshaping eating and spending, survey suggests

TORONTO - A new survey suggests about three million Canadian adults are currently taking GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic or Mounjaro and that many more would like to, but cost is a barrier.

The poll conducted by Leger Healthcare says more than half of the people surveyed who are taking the medications reported decreased appetite and 40 per cent said they have fewer food cravings.

Leger Healthcare said those effects are reshaping how GLP-1 users are spending their money, with about 30 per cent going to restaurants or getting takeout food less often.

The survey released Tuesday said about a third of them are buying more fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as protein-rich foods.

Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week

TORONTO - Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:

Transat meeting

Transat A.T. Inc. will hold its annual meeting on Tuesday. Media magnate Pierre Karl Péladeau is trying to overhaul the board at the company and seize effective control, however Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) have both recommended that shareholders vote against the Quebecor CEO's proposal to install himself and two associates on a slimmed-down board.

Algoma Steel earnings

Maple Leaf Foods enters 2026 with clearer priorities since pork business spinoff: CEO

Maple Leaf Foods chief executive Curtis Frank says the spin-off of the company's pork operations has allowed for a sharper strategic focus as it looks to grow its business.

"Our identity and our priorities are clearer than ever," Frank told investors during the fourth quarter earnings call on Thursday.

Frank said the company entered 2026 with operational momentum and clearer priorities to increase revenue and profits through its diverse products. The company also plans to reduce its costs and increase prices to offset the elevated costs of raw meat.

The meat packaging company spun off Canada Packers in October as a stand-alone business with a focus on hog production and processing. Maple Leaf Foods holds a 16 per cent stake in Canada Packers and the two companies signed an evergreen supply agreement.

Conservatives seek to remove barriers to alcohol shipments across provincial borders

OTTAWA - The federal Conservatives are pushing to allow Canada Post to ship alcohol between provinces, saying the Liberals have failed to live up to their pledge to remove interprovincial trade barriers.

B.C. MP Dan Albas, whose riding includes the Okanagan wine region, has introduced a private member's bill that would amend the Canada Post Corporation Act to remove restrictions on direct interprovincial shipments of alcohol to consumers.

Albas said the change would "free the beer."

"We need to be our own best customers. This is a valid way to do that," he said. 

Padma Lakshmi finds a new competitive kitchen with CBS’ ‘America’s Culinary Cup’

NEW YORK (AP) — Padma Lakshmi is back in the kitchen with a knives-out cooking competition, and this time the stakes are higher — for the contestants and for her.

The former host of Bravo's “Top Chef” lands on network prime time hosting and judging the CBS show “America's Culinary Cup,” which boasts the largest cash prize in culinary television history — $1 million.

“This is about my love and appreciation and respect for chefs, especially after what the restaurant industry in this country and everywhere has gone through after COVID-19,” she says.

The network has given the show the coveted spot after “Survivor” on Wednesdays. It launches Wednesday and episodes also stream on Paramount+.

Dairy group to seek designated status for ‘Quebec poutine cheese’

MONTREAL - A group representing Quebec's dairy industry says it's eyeing a special designation — similar to the one applied to Bordeaux wine or champagne — for the squeaky cheese curds best known as a key ingredient in poutine.

The Conseil des Industriels laitiers du Québec is seeking a protected geographical indication — a status similar to a trademark that links products to a specific region — for "Quebec poutine cheese."

A protected indication "is a public intellectual property right that is defended by the state," explains Marjolaine Mondon, a project coordinator at the Conseil des appellations réservées et des termes valorisants — CARTV — a group that oversees product designations in the province. 

Currently, products that have the designation include Quebec icewine, Neuville sweet corn and Charlevoix lamb.

Alberta government corks added-value levy on wine, returns to standard flat tax

EDMONTON - Those in the wine and hospitality industries are applauding a move from the Alberta government to scrap a wine tax that they say reduced transparency and created business uncertainty. 

Alberta had introduced an ad valorem markup that taxed wine based on the value of a bottle in its budget last year.

In its new budget tabled last week, the government walked back on the tax after industry backlash. 

Starting April 1, the government will instead re-introduce a flat tax and increase the standard volume-based markup for wine products by 58 cents per litre.