A Hong Kong company with a novel way to preserve fresh meat chose Edmonton for its first international packaging facility because of its mix of academic and economic partners, says the CEO.
"The reason why I came to Edmonton is we feel that we would be able to meet like-minded people who would, like us, be willing to take the risks to build a technology that can change the future for generations to come," said Felix Cheung, co-founder and CEO of IXON Food Technology, at a product tasting on June 12.
IXON's advanced sous-vide aseptic packaging, or ASAP, can preserve fresh meat for up to two years without needing refrigeration, the company says. The proprietary process uses quick surface heating, vacuum sealing, and aseptic conditions to prevent bacteria from spoiling meat.
"We are the first company to have the ability to package solid food products under aseptic conditions continually," Cheung said at the media event at Edmonton Unlimited, where he and co-founder Elton Ho served samples of Canadian pork chops and wagyu beef from Australia.
The packaging has not yet been approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, but Cheung said the company has started the process for approval and is aiming to go to market by the fourth quarter of 2024.
When Invest Alberta announced IXON's plans in December, it said the decision would bring $10 million and 20 jobs to the city.
"Typically, when we evaluate the company we look for impact and alignment," Yuliia Marcinkoski of Invest Alberta said at the news conference. "Technologies like the one that IXON is offering are going to take our cattle industry to another level."
CEO Felix Cheung spoke at a tasting of IXON's ASAP-preserved meats at Edmonton Unlimited on June 12, 2023. (Ashley Lavallee-Koenig)
Cheung and Ho began their research together in 2015 before starting IXON in 2017. They graduated from Creative Destruction Lab-Rockies, an accelerator based at the University of Calgary, in 2022.
That led to an introduction to mentors at The51 Food and AgTech Fund, which led to connections at the University of Alberta, NAIT, and Edmonton Global. Other elements of the ecosystem that attracted IXON include Agri-Food Discovery Place and the Edmonton International Airport.
Edmonton has an "economic and academic system that's unique to the world," Cheung said. "We also visited Australia, Italy, UK, we couldn't find anything close or similar."
The meat IXON offered for sampling on June 12 was shipped from Hong Kong, as the Edmonton facility is not built yet. The pilot automated line in Edmonton is expected to produce four tonnes of packaged meat daily, and the company plans to increase capacity to 20 tonnes per day once the full commercial line is finished, Invest Alberta said in December.