for the processor who says “that’s for biotech, not us” —
SR&ED for food, dairy & agri-food
Trying to extend shelf-life? That’s probably SR&ED.
Reformulating, lifting yield, fixing an instability you couldn’t explain — if the outcome was uncertain when you started, it likely qualifies. No lab coats required.
The under-claimed sector
You don’t need a lab
Software is ~43% of SR&ED credits (per CRA) — in our experience, food, agriculture and construction are consistently under-claimed.
Recipe and shelf-life trials, yield work, reformulation — food processors across Canada do plenty of qualifying R&D. It’s just rarely claimed.
Typical qualifying activities
Shelf-life & stability
Reformulating to extend stability, or solving an instability you observed but couldn’t explain.
Yield & waste
Process changes to lift yield or cut reject rates, where the result wasn’t guaranteed.
Allergens & nutrition
Reformulating allergen-free or higher-nutrition while keeping texture and mouthfeel.
Batch → continuous
Adapting a batch process to continuous, and debugging the plateaus along the way.
Ingredient substitution
Substituting a shortage or price-spike ingredient without changing the finished product.
Control & instrumentation
Capital on sensors, controls, pilot kit — eligible again under Bill C-15.
Client pattern · anonymized
A specialty processor reformulating to hit several conflicting targets at once — allergen-free, the right texture and crispness, a long shelf life, and freeze-thaw stable — using only natural ingredients, no flour binder. Because the usual binder was off the table, the work was systematic trial-and-error across proteins, starches, fats and emulsification. They’d been told it wasn’t worth claiming.
Documented properly, it recovered six figures.
Real work we’ve claimed
Sound familiar?
Almost every one of these started the same way: the standard, off-the-shelf approach didn’t work, and nobody could tell them why. Figuring it out — including all the batches that didn’t land — is exactly what SR&ED is for.
A specialty food maker set out to take the gluten out of a product but keep the bite and the shelf life. Trouble is, the ingredient that normally does that job is the exact thing they removed. Every batch they tweaked to get the texture back — even the ones that didn’t quite land — is SR&ED.
A processor wanted a snack that stays crisp on the outside and soft inside after it’s been frozen and thawed — using only natural ingredients, no artificial stabilizers. Crispness that survives the freezer isn’t something you can look up. It took real trial and error, and that work counts.
A food producer was chasing a long fresh shelf life without the usual preservatives. The standard binders turned everything pasty; hydrating the proteins made the fat separate. Working through all of that to find a combination that held together is exactly the kind of experimentation that qualifies.
A grower was fighting mildew and pests in a tough, tall-growing crop, where the usual treatment had to be re-applied every week and a half — punishing on labour. Testing a continuous low-dose approach and natural predator insects to see what actually worked in their conditions is claimable R&D.
A manufacturer needed to hit a high production speed without losing quality on a reformulated recipe. Dialing in the ratios and the process so it works at line speed — not just in a test kitchen — is the part most producers don’t realize they can recover.
If you’ve changed how you make it, there’s probably a claim in it.
Book a 30-minute call with Amin →