Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

Mildred's Temple Kitchen (MTK), a part of Mildred Pierce Group of Companies and located in Toronto Ontario, has been a leader in brunch for over thirty years. MTK has continued to set trends for innovation, creativity and exceptional hospitality experiences, while maintaining a simple approach to cooking and the joys of the table. During the months of lock-down, the restaurant operation pivoted to take-out, home meal replacement, and meal kits when MTK saw an opportunity to innovate with some of their hero menu items and developed a "Get Brunch'd" kit which provided customers with the premium ingredients and/or products to recreate their favorite recipes at home.In collaboration with Conestoga College, MTK plans to embark on a research project that will focus on 1) determining the product shelf life, and nutritional profile of the "Get Brunch'd" meal kits (pancake mixture, wild blueberry Compote, and apple fritter, frozen biscuit and frozen scone), 2) determining the optimal packaging solution, 3) investigating parameters including ingredients, processing steps etc., that could affect the product's shelf stability and making recommendations for improvements and/or alterations, as well as 4) market ideation. Conestoga College will utilize their knowledge in food science, food safety, and packaging along with recipe development to investigate the necessary requirements and process conditions to help MTK in bringing "Get Brunch'd" meal kits into more households across the country.