Artisanal cheese rolls win Toronto food product contest

Henrique Alvim’s innovative artisanal cheese rolls won Enterprise Toronto's "Next Great Food Product Contest"at the annual small business forum on Oct. 16.

The contest gave five entrepreneurs a taste of what it was like to pitch their commercial food or non-alcoholic beverage product idea to prominent industry professionals including: chef Christine Cushing; John Mastroianni (manager Pusateri Fine Foods); and Dufflet Rosenberg (founder and CEO, Dufflet Pastries).

Alvim, originally from Brazil, won the contest for his artisanal cheese rolls that use 50 per cent real cheese and could be available as a plain cheese roll or with a combination of ham, bacon and fresh herbs and spices.

The three judges agreed that Alvim's offering showed the best combination of uniqueness, taste, business plan and strong presentation skills.

Alvim will also receive mentoring and consulting services by the City of Toronto Economic Development staff in order to refine his business plan and get his product ready to launch.

He will also get display space at the Canadian Restaurant and Food Association Trade Show in March 2013 as well as access to a commercial food kitchen at a reduced rate to prepare samples for the trade show.

Run by the City of Toronto's Economic Development and Culture Division and Enterprise Toronto, this contest was accessible to a wide variety of future and current Toronto business owners and entrepreneurs.

More than 30 applications were received for the contest.