Food Processing’s Food For Thought Podcast

Stephanie Powell, director of marketing for Alpha Baking Co., discusses the results of a survey Alpha Baking commissioned to determine how consumers construct sandwiches using their Thanksgiving leftovers. From their choice of bread type and whether they use turkey or ham, to pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes — plus a few non-leftover "must haves" — the choices consumers make are interesting! At the least, they demonstrate a cornucop...

This episode is sponsored by IDS Imaging Development Systems.

Artificial intelligence is here, and food and beverage processors, as well as manufacturing at large, would be best served to take notice and get moving, or they might miss out on the benefits that AI and machine learning can bring.

Philip Freidin, an applications engineer at IDS Imaging Development Systems, joins us in this episode to give his perspective on what the sh...

As the 2023 calendar year winds down, the protein industry sits in an interesting position. Each segment of the industry — whether conventional animal protein, plant-based, alternative and cultivated animal products — stands at a different point in its evolution, and the short-term future is certainly intriguing for all.

We sat down with Nicole Johnson-Hoffman, a CEO, independent board director and protein-industry veteran, to get ...

When Tyson Foods announced a partnership with insect ingredients company Protix in mid-October, it made significant headlines and raised a positively curious eyebrow or two, at least among consumers. And although Tyson’s initial plan focuses on insect protein as a feed and pet food ingredient, we wanted to discuss the idea of insects as a food source both today and in the future. Alexandra Kazaks, PhD, RDN, joined us for that very ...

To be successful in the food and beverage processing world, processors must keep up with the ever-increasing pace of innovation in operations. Plant and equipment design standards are always on the move, and we spoke with Paul Krechel, vice president of Sales, Service and Parts for Deville Technologies to get his take on how collaboration between processors and vendors can help the industry keep up.

This episode is sponsored by Dev...

Geoff Coltman is a vice president at Catena Solutions, a supply chain-focused consultancy with deep ties to the food and beverage space. In today's episode of the Food For Thought podcast, Geoff gives his insights on the recently announced acquisition of Hostess Brands by J. M. Smucker, analyzing what it means for each company, its customers and the industry at large. In addition, Geoff offers his thoughts on the mergers and acquis...

The unsung heroes of a processing plant’s operation, drives and motors keep operations running effectively and efficiently — and often aren’t noticed unless they’re not performing up to standards for throughput, efficiency and food safety. Tony Pariseau, key market specialist for food and beverage at Nord Drivesystems, joined us recently to share what the team at Nord views as pushing the envelope of innovation in drive technology ...

Today's episode is sponsored by Motion.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has taken hold of much of the manufacturing world, and food and beverage processors who haven’t yet implemented the technology will soon fall behind.

In this episode, we spoke with James Howe, executive vice president - chief commercial officer/chief technology officer for Motion, to learn where the food and beverage industry stands on IIoT implementat...

Sandra Eskin, deputy under secretary for Food Safety with USDA-FSIS, joins us to discuss a variety of topics, from worker and food safety impacts of increased poultry and pork line speeds to the data revolution and how it could affect the agency's efforts, as well as FSIS' proposal to declare Salmonella an adulterant in breaded, stuffed, raw chicken products. Read more about other challenges and issues in food safety at Food Proces...

Today’s episode is sponsored by Silky Smooth MicroCreamery, the creators of SilkySweet

Necessity is the mother of invention; or at least that’s how the saying goes. For Chuck Nix, the need to create the perfect sweetener for ice cream led him to create SilkySweet, a flavor-enhancing, all-natural, sugar-free and ketogenic certified sweetener blend for a multitude of products.

Nix, who founded Silky Smooth MicroCreamery, transformed ...

This episode is sponsored by EnSight Solutions. 

How well do you know high shear mixing? Here to talk more about it is Don Wolfe, Product Line Manager for EnSight Solutions.

We talk why and how high shear mixing is used as well as how to get the most out of your mixer. We cap the episode off talking about what it means to be a trusted partner with EnSight Solutions. 

Learn more about EnSight Solutions Read the transcript of this ep...

We’re capping off our conversation about food and beverage workforce issues with return guest Jennifer D’Angelo. 

Jennifer, who is a vice president at Catena Solutions, was on back in March talking about the correlation between the supply chain and workforce issues in the food and beverage industry. On today’s episode, we dig a little bit deeper about those issues and about the future of work for food manufacturers. 

From interpret...

Many in the production industry don’t realize the importance of high-quality doors to a facility’s success. In fact, high-performance doors can help your company save money and manpower — and increase productivity. This is especially true for those in the cold storage and food industries.

To explore the ins and outs of the high-performance door market and what doors might be best for your company, Food Processing sat down with Whit...

On today's episode, we’re talking with Miller Resource Group recruiter Denise Chludzinski about specific tasks and ideas companies can undertake to ensure they find and keep the best employees. 

We kick off the episode talking about the perception problem food and beverage companies have among consumers and why that may be preventing future generations from considering careers in the ever-growing industry.  We talk about the import...

Today on the podcast, we’re talking with Jeff Broussard, president of EnSight Solutions. Jeff joins us to talk about further processing, a topic EnSight has a lot of knowledge on. 

In the episode, Jeff talks us through what further processing is and what trends he’s seeing in the processing market. He walks us through developments in further processing equipment design before offering insights on what it means to be a trusted partn...

On today’s episode, we’re talking with financial expert, Jennifer Palmer. 

Jennifer, who is the CEO and Founder of asset-based lending firm JPalmer Collective, is a return guest to the podcast and she’s here to talk about how bank collapses – like the one that happened with Silicon Valley Bank in March – can have a ripple effect for food and beverage manufacturers. 

We take both a macro and a micro-economics approach to understandi...