When an old friend saw Rory Francis breakfasting at a Charlottetown restaurant recently and noted that the venerable civil-servant-turned-industry-mentor hadn’t retired yet, Francis just smiled. “I’m having too much fun,” said the Executive Director of the PEI BioAlliance.

In May I spent a few days on P.E.I. researching a series of stories that will appear in Progress in September. The theme of the innovation series, and what I heard over and over again, was that innovation isn’t just what takes place in a lab. Those of us who spend each day in the start-up space would do well to remember that a lot of innovation takes place in kitchens, basements, garages, and boardrooms, and it often leads to tremendous companies.

Islanders are proud of companies such as BioVectra and Neurodyn, two superb biotech companies I interviewed during my research. Now in its fifth decade, BioVectra manufactures drugs for large companies and is completing an $18-million extension to one of its plants. Neurodyn is younger but no less impressive; the young company has several projects on the go; the main one is a natural extract from ginseng that can arrest or slow the deterioration of animals with Parkinson’s disease.

To properly grasp the broad spectrum of innovation, I have to tell you about Brenda VanDuinkerken, whom I first met at a glitzy reception at the McInnes Cooper offices in Halifax, where she was recognized as one of three Atlantic Canadian finalists for The Manning Innovation Awards.

VanDuinkerken’s journey as an innovator began in 1994, when she learned she suffered from celiac disease, which prevents the small intestine from absorbing nutrients from food. Celiac patients must adopt a gluten-free diet, which means not eating foods containing wheat, barley, rye, and oats.

VanDuinkerken soon learned that most gluten-free products taste awful. “I began to wonder why gluten-free foods had to taste so bad,’’ says VanDuinkerken. “I wanted to bring to the table gluten-free foods that tasted so good, the whole family could enjoy it.”

In 2005 she incorporated Duinkerken Foods and hired chefs and food scientists to make better-tasting gluten-free products. It took four to five months of experimentation, but soon they were turning out cakes and cookies that tasted great. “We’ve got the world’s best gluten-free products, we know that for sure,” says VanDuinkerken.

Duinkerken Foods products are sold across Canada and available online at Walmart.com. Sales have increased 28% per year, and VanDuinkerken is aiming at increasing international exports. Duinkerken Foods is becoming a global company, and it started in someone’s kitchen in P.E.I. It’s export-oriented and innovative, and it’s in the food-products sector, which is no longer simply a commodity business. P.E.I. has become an important player in the Canadian food industry in part because it houses the National Research Council’s Institute for Nutrisciences and Health and the Culinary Institute of Canada.

The agri-food industry is one cornerstone of the PEI BioAlliance, along with other biosciences such as natural health products and veterinary medical products. The PEI BioAlliance will soon update its second seven-year plan on how to develop the cluster. And while it has survived a recession or two, changes in government, and the ups and downs of business life, it’s planning for the next seven years. “Continuous commitment is important when you’re trying something new,” says Francis. “You can’t do it in a four-year election term. You’ve got to hold your feet to the fire over the long term.”