As we tear down our 2024 calendars and replace them with 2025 versions, it’s a good time to look back on the year in food safety challenges, accomplishments and trends that might push into the new year.

Andrew Lorenz, who consults processors on food safety, quality and regulatory issues as CEO and founder of We R Food Safety!, offers his insights into the uptick in recalls in the past year and what FSIS and the FDA had turned their focus toward by the end of the year. Additionally, he gives an update on what to expect when it comes to federal versus state inspections and the added emphasis on preventing foreign material contamination in the product stream.

Editor's Note: To view the "Robust Listeria monocytogenes Control Program" documentation that Lorenz mentions in the episode, click here; it is free of charge to anyone.

According to Alissa Davis, vice president of marketing for Golden Waffles, breakfast is coming back as people begin traveling again, both for work and pleasure. As such, Golden Waffles — which manufactures and sells its own waffle batter and provides waffle irons and accessories to foodservice operators and institutions — has rebranded itself and positioned its business to take advantage of the trends.

Davis joins the podcast to discuss what’s driving breakfast trends with consumers, the flavor and ingredient trends driving Golden Waffles’ product development, and how the company drove its rebranding efforts, moving away from the 90-year-old name Golden Malted and becoming Golden Waffles.

As we begin to turn the page on the 2024 calendar year, John Robertson of Life Cycle Engineering joins the Food For Thought podcast to discuss the workforce challenges facing manufacturing and food and beverage processors and how automation is helping ease some of the burden.

Robertson warns that processors who have not fostered a strong plan to capture legacy knowledge and support the next generation of employees can wait no longer. And they need to begin to use the technology and tactics available to keep their workers well-trained and their plants humming along.

The Food For Thought podcast will be taking this week off, but don't worry, we will be back "on the air" next Wednesday, Dec. 4, with all the great insights and conversation you've come to expect! Have a Happy Thanksgiving, and here's to the best food holiday of the year!

Circana’s vice president of Thought Leadership, Joan Driggs, joins the Food For Thought podcast to discuss the trends driving Thanksgiving shopping for food and beverage products this year. Shoppers are not wavering on the products they want on this American food-fest of a holiday, and retailers and processors, fortunately, are stepping up to offer deals and make the cost a little more affordable for consumers.

In addition, Driggs digs into the Thanksgiving meal — how people approach eating at home versus in a restaurant — when they do celebrate Turkey Day out of the home — and how the Thanksgiving meal remains very heavily homemade. She also implores food and beverage manufacturers to be unique and find ways to promote their products as adjacencies to the main meal, which often supplies a few added leftover meal options in the days afterward.

Check out Circana's 2024 Thanksgiving Outlook for a deeper dive.

The term “recycling” has been around for decades, but how much progress have food and beverage companies made? And how have consumers been supported in their efforts to recycle?

John Hewitt, senior vice president of packaging and sustainability on behalf of the Consumer Brands Association, talks about where industry stands, and then offers a learning session on molecular recycling — a recycling process that takes the standard, mechanical recycling processes to the next level.

As consumers seek healthier options in their food choices, fermented foods have seen a resurgence in popularity, and Fermented Food Holdings, or FFH, hopes to take advantage of the rising demand. The company recently promoted Jorge Azevedo from chief operating officer to be its first CEO, and he joins the Food For Thought podcast to discuss the company’s growth and its mission moving forward.

In addition, Azevedo offers his insights into the fermented foods marketplace and the demand for those products from consumers, and how FFH is looking to grow not just in the fermented foods space, but also as a functional foods company.

Food and beverage plants are constantly chasing improved productivity and efficiency, and Bill Remy, CEO for TBM Consulting, joins the Food For Thought podcast to discuss strategies to help them reach those goals.

Remy also reminds processors of the importance of getting skilled workers on board to maintain the equipment at a high level, despite the complexity of the automation being installed, and figuring out a way to transfer the tribal knowledge from longtime workers who leave to the new generation of employees.

This episode is brought to you by Robroy Industries.

For food and beverage processors, designing facilities, equipment and components requires a sharp focus on mitigating safety risks to product and the workforce. Taken singularly, the bar has been raised for most of these standards.

Yet, as Steve Voelzke, president of the Electrical Division at Robroy Industries, explains, an all-encompassing, wide-lens approach to designing systems around all the standards together can help companies advance safety and reliability in their plants and stay ahead of the curve.

Learn more about Robroy Industries

The popularity of private-label food and beverage products continues to grow, and it’s being driven by a variety of factors from inflation over the years to continued price pressure to the influence of the Gen Z shopper.

Nichole Jones, principal in EY-Parthenon’s retail strategy practice, and Don Johnson, principal in the consumer products and retail strategy practice at EY-Parthenon, join the podcast to discuss what makes this opportunity in private label different from other historical opportunities. They also give insights on how to cater products to Gen Z consumers, as well as strategies for processors and retailers to take advantage and strike while the iron remains hot.