In today’s #FoodForThoughtPodcast, get ready to dive into all things manufacturing strategy with David Zendisk from Black & Veatch and the NextGen Ag group.

Black & Veatch NextGen Ag helps companies bring new food, beverage, and agriculture technologies to life, emphasizing sustainability and scaling-up. Their team provides engineering, procurement, and construction services to clients working in the food & beverage, alternative proteins, industrial biotech, controlled environment agriculture, and aquaculture markets.

Black & Veatch NextGen Ag is the ideal partner to help emerge, and existing companies bridge the gap between science, research & development, engineering, and commercialization. Their team has a global presence employing 10,000 professionals across 100+ global locations.

Dive into all thing’s manufacturing strategy with EnWave Corporation’s podcast host Mike Wilkes. Find this episode and more in our #FoodForThoughtPodcast archives:  https://www.enwave.net/food-for-thought-podcast/

Black & Veatch: https://www.bv.com/industries/food-and-beverageEnWave Corporation: https://www.enwave.net/

In today’s #FoodForThoughtPodcast​ Nick Saltarelli, co-founder of Mid-DaySquares talks about disrupting the status quo in the #foodmanufacturing​ industry. Mid-Day Squares launched in 2018 with the intention of building out their own chocolate manufacturing plant and keeping the entire manufacturing process in-house.  Their chocolate bars are 100% organic, gluten-free, plant protein-packed, fiber-rich, and functional. As the founders of Mid-Day Squares like to say, "Everything A Chocolate Bar Isn't, Everything A Protein Bar Wishes It Was."  

Dive into all thing’s product development and manufacturing strategy with EnWave Corporation’s podcast host Mike Wilkes.

Episode Highlights:  ► [ 3:40​ ] Take us back to the day when you decided to build out your own chocolate manufacturing facility and decided to not use a co-manufacturing partner?  

► [ 7:10​ ] Why are so many food founders scared of building and scaling in-house manufacturing?   

► [ 9:25​ ] How did Mid-Day Squares scale with demand in mind from manual processes to automation?  

► [ 12:18​ ] Why do most products on the shelf end up looking the same? How did Mid-Day Squares keep differentiation?   

► [ 14:37​ ] What is the message to people looking to build their own company (food or other)?  

► [ 19:55​ ] When you were in your kitchen and developing your first product ... when did you decide this was commercially viable?  

► [ 22:37​ ] Did you start at the pricepoint and move backwards or was the pricing a function of the market?  

► [ 24:48​ ] You go above and beyond with your own branding and the customer experience. What does that team look like? 

► [ 27:24​ ] You share things with your audiences that are normally kept behind closed doors. What inspired this transparency and authenticity?  

► [ 31:30​ ] Who have been some of your mentors or role models along the way?  

► [ 35:11​ ] What's next for Mid-Day Squares?   ► [ 37:04​ ] Where is the best place for people to find and try Mid-Day Squares?  

► [ 37:48​ ] As someone who lives and breaths food all day, how do you re-connect with Food on a personal level?

Today's episode features Pat Turpin, Co-Founder of Popchips, the iconic popped potato chip that took the snacking world by storm. Pat is now a Senior Advisor and Board Member to CPG companies but reflects on building Popchips from an idea to a national brand with 30,000+ points of sale.

Today's episode features David Benzaquen, Co-Founder of Mission: Plant, LLC. David founded one of the first plant-based seafood companies in North America and serves as an adviser to multiple food accelerators and venture capital funds focused on the plant-based food industry.

Today's episode features Chef Spike Mendelsohn, Co-Founder of PLNT Burger. From chef and restaurateur to television personality, product developer and consultant, Spike is a force to reckoned with in the culinary world. Spike is a culinary visionary driving positive change throughout the food system with Eat The Change, PLNT Burger and his Plant Your Vote campaign.

Today's episode features Alex Yurek, Founder of New Skew, a modern food company built for rapid recipe development and brand prototyping. Based in Toronto, New Skew is building a portfolio of modern CPG brands that are designed to keep pace with food culture and remove traditional barriers to the product development process.

Today's episode features Scout, a North American Craft Cannery & Purveyors of Sustainable Seafood. Adam Bent, Co-Founder & CEO, joins our Mike Wilkes to discuss Scout's product launch and innovation strategy in seafood CPG - a category ripe for disruption and product innovation. Backed by Almanac Partners, a highly reputable venture capital firm specializing in CPG, Scout is bringing style, sustainability and bold flavors to canned seafood.

Today’s episode features Harrison Fugman, Co-Founder + CEO of The Naked Market. The San-Francisco based CPG company is developing a number of innovative DTC brands for the modern health conscious consumer. Our own Mike Wilkes takes a deep dive with Harrison on their direct-to-consumer distribution strategy and dissects Harrison’s transition from Head of Venture Capital Coverage at Credit Suisse to CPG Founder.

Today’s episode focuses on the trailblazing work Hailey Jefferies, Co-Founder at Prairie Fava, is doing to introduce the Canadian palate to the lesser known pulse crop, fava beans. Based in Manitoba, Prairie Fava is creating value-add fava bean products and recently was awarded a $19.2 million Protein Industries Canada R&D grant in collaboration with Roquette, a global leader in plant-based ingredients and pioneer of plant-based proteins.

Today's episode features Jarret Stopforth, Founder & Chief Technology Officer at Atomo Coffee. Atomo is the world’s first molecular coffee containing no coffee beans. By re-engineering the coffee bean at their Pike Place facility, known for being the birthplace of Starbucks, Atomo has created a naturally-derived and sustainable coffee that can be used in place of traditional ground coffee.