Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

Troubled Monk Brewery (TMB) has been producing handcrafted beer, spirits and sodas in Red Deer, Alberta since early 2015 and has developed significant customer base across the entire province. Staying true to their ""craft"" roots, Troubled Monk goes to great lengths to maintain a clean label on their products, using natural ingredients in all their products, including fresh ginger, star anise, cloves, and cinnamon, to name a few. This early success has not been without pains however and it is these pains that led TMB to reach out to Holland College Canada's Smartest Kitchen to collaborate with hopes of conquering several hurdles. Canada's Smartest Kitchen is a Canadian leader in food product research and development. CSK has a multidisciplinary team that combines the creativity of culinary arts, with food science and safety to develop innovative new food products ready for market. TMB is currently facing challenges with shelf life and high sugar and calorie levels in their craft sodas and want to explore new alternatives that will provide solutions to these challenges but lack the internal capacity to do so. Canada's Smartest Kitchen will work collaboratively with TMB to help solve these technical challenges so that TMB can expand their reach into new markets without fear of spoilage or turning away customers based on perceived unhealthy nutritional content.