Johanna Velez, vice president of quality assurance for Monin Americas, sits down with us to discuss how technology has impacted quality assurance and quality control for food and beverage processors in recent years. In addition, Velez explains how corporate culture initiatives must involve the QA and QC teams, what success looks like in that arena, and what innovations she’d like to see develop that can help Monin’s teams continue to drive safety and quality initiatives for its product lines ..read more

Today's episode is sponsored by Horizon Systems. Food and beverage processors are constantly on the lookout for a competitive edge that will help their products stand out amongst the crowd. Often, those companies look to new varieties, flavors and functionalities for their products, swapping out ingredients or introducing new formulations devised by their product development teams. However, as Todd Baker, vice president of innovation and tech services for Horizon Systems, explains, it cannot be taken for granted that the introduction of new ingredients into any facility will allow for “busines ..read more

How important is employee wellness to your company? Maybe you have support from above to take care of your team members’ physical health, or maybe their mental and emotional needs. What about their digital wellness? Bethany Baker, Wellness Director for Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company, joins the Food For Thought podcast to talk about how the beverage company has put an even greater emphasis on all-around wellness in the last year, committing to initiatives that help employees relieve the tension and stress both in and out of work, in order to be more efficient and improve their work-life ..read more

Zane Adams is co-founder and executive vice president of strategy and development for FedUp Foods, one of the biggest private-label manufacturers of functional beverages in North America. Adams joins the Food For Thought podcast to discuss what is driving the private-label business today — and how economic conditions should continue to drive it in the future. He also digs into consumer trends and perceptions around health-and-wellness products, and how the food and beverage industry is stepping up to meet those customers on their level ..read more

The Food For Thought podcast checks in with Sally Lyons Wyatt, global executive vice president and chief advisor in consumer goods and foodservice insights for Circana, for a mid-year update on how the food and beverage industry has fared through the first half of the year. In this episode, Lyons Wyatt shares insights on inflation and how consumers are spending differently at this point in 2024. She shares the four factors the team at Circana will be monitoring for guidance on how 2024 may pan out for food and beverage CPGs. Lyons Wyatt also delves into some of the fascinating ways consumers h ..read more

Sarah Gallo, vice president of Product Policy at the Consumer Brands Association, discusses the increasing activity around state legislatures attempting to flex their muscle and ban or restrict food additives in recent years. Gallo shares her thoughts on how processors can navigate their way through the highly charged political atmosphere while defending the science that has been done to prove these ingredients safe. In addition, Gallo discusses what industry might expect from the FDA moving forward in this arena, and what the long-term impacts could be if this trend continues to gain traction ..read more

Food safety remains one of the issues that keeps food and beverage processors up at night, and many experts in the field will suggest that, by building a strong food safety culture, processors can drive successful implementation and execution of their food safety strategies across all operations. Sharon Beals, current owner of SKKB LLC and former food safety leader for several food processors and foodservice operators over the years, discusses her thoughts on why such a strategy can be important and help set the tone for the company — but also how food safety culture alone cannot create an atm ..read more

In this bonus audio, Food Processing senior editor Andy Hanacek asks what has various federal agencies particularly concerned about the most recent outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) during a Town Hall panel at the Food Safety Summit in Rosemont, Ill. To read the news article summarizing the Town Hall takeaways, visit www.foodprocessing.com ..read more

Today’s episode is sponsored by Loadsmart In this episode, George Swartz, vice president of sales for Loadsmart’s Transportation Solutions Group, talks about the logistics challenges that food and beverage processors face currently, as well as the trends leading operations into the future. Swartz also offers his viewpoints on how the industry can manage its carbon footprint and reach its sustainability goals through innovative logistics opportunities and tactics, and gives his thoughts on how and when he believes electric vehicles will start to really impact supply chain and logistics. Learn m ..read more

In this episode of the Food For Thought podcast, Andy Hanacek, senior editor of Food Processing, joins the editors of several brands in the Endeavor Business Media family, of which Food Processing is a member, to discuss what the outcome of the upcoming presidential election could mean for the various segments of the manufacturing industry they cover. The video was hosted by Industry Week and published as a part of its “Production Pulse” series, and Hanacek represented Food Processing to shed some light on how the political landscape is affecting the food and beverage industry. Laura Putre, se ..read more