As some you know, or not, I graduated in Food Chemistry from McGill University. I worked for two summers as a Quality control student at Kraft Canada. Yes yes yes. The one that you see when you are waiting in the traffic on the 40 ;) The one that produces the infamous Kraft Dinner and Cheez Whiz.
There is two Kraft plants in Montreal. One in Mount-Royal and another one near the Olympic stadium on Pie-IX. Mount-Royal's plant is the largest one in Canada producing Kraft Dinner, Mayonnaise, Miracle Whip, Peanut Butter, Salad Dressing, BBQ sauces, Philadelphia cream cheese, Cheez Whiz and Singles. The other plant is a bakery cooking the yummy oreos and soda crackers.
After my graduation, I was lucky enough to score a position in Research and Development in the cheese department which is based in Mount-Royal. That is, I am taking care of the Natural Cheese (Petit Québec, Cracker Barrel), Process Cheese and Cream Cheese. I am mostly responsible for innovations or new products.
So how does a new product land in your grocery? Here is how it all works:
