Food Processing’s Food For Thought Podcast

When it comes to cultivated meat, the food industry remains in a holding pattern around what the future might hold for this segment of the meat industry. Some folks see cultivated meat as an uncertainty — and maybe even a threat to the traditional meat industry. Others, however, believe cultivated meat should have a seat at the table regarding how the industry will feed the growing global population with fewer resources in the coming decades and beyond.

Jeff “Trip” Tripician, a meat industry veteran who joined Netherlands-based cultivated meat processor Meatable as its new CEO in May of this year, joins the podcast to discuss where cultivated meat and Meatable’s product line stand today, what challenges remain on the road to full-scale commerce in the U.S., and where he believes the future potential is greatest for cultivated meat down the road.  

This episode is sponsored by Marel.

In many segments of the food industry, in particular meat, poultry and seafood, manufacturing products requires multiple processing steps to get from live animal to a food portion. Automation and robotics can help processors where speed and efficiency are needed to create uniform, consistent products and package them in such a way that protects the products and attracts the customer.

Thomas Danmark, commercial manager for the Robotics and Batching product groups at Marel, discusses the challenges that processors need to address when implementing robotics and automation solutions, as well as how vision and gripper technologies continue to evolve to improve the speed of the lines, the quality of the products, and the gentle handling of the equipment on the product.

Learn more about Marel

Shawn Gilronan is a partner with CohnReznick and the leader of the company’s digital advisory practice. He joins us today to offer insights as to how food and beverage processors can start in on their own digital transformation journey, as well as how the latest wave of innovation has impacted the data revolution.

Additionally, Gilronan gives his thoughts on how the industry can get ready for more artificial intelligence and how to train and educate workers on what AI truly means for the quality of their work, rather than having them fear for their job security.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Ingredion and is the third in a three-part series. Episode 1 aired on Aug. 14, and Episode 2 aired on Aug. 28, on this channel.

This episode is part 3 of a three-part series, in which we’ve been speaking with experts about beverage trends and ready-to-mix proteins. In this episode, we will dig into the trends driving beverages overall, including sugar reduction and the changing landscape of consumer expectations — all weighing on product development.

Richard Stewart, beverage technical services for Ingredion, and Adams Berzins, senior manager for global sugar reduction product applications and agility team leader for Ingredion, discuss these trends with us, offering deep insights into sugar replacement and the how product developers can best approach determining which replacers work best in their formulations.

Learn more about Ingredion.

In this episode, Karina Zimerfeld, global vice president of R&D for Mars Food & Nutrition, discusses how her company is aiming to help at-home cooks address the three primary demands they have when it comes to meal planning and preparation.

Zimerfeld also talks about the technologies that have opened the door for companies to more easily address consumer demands today, and how Mars Food & Nutrition has begun to tap into artificial intelligence to analyze trends in support of its R&D work to stay on top of — or even ahead of — consumer preferences.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Ingredion and is the second in a three-part series. Episode 1 aired on Aug. 14, and Episode 3 will air on Sept. 11, 2024, on this channel.

In this episode, we will dig into the formulation, development and regulatory side of creating ready-to-mix protein products that help consumers meet their health and wellness requirements through food and beverage products.

Speaking with us this time around are Junrui Cheng, senior nutrition scientist for Ingredion’s global scientific and regulatory affairs department, Rob Skorge, project leader in the bridgewater idea labs for Ingredion, and Jing Zhou, senior manager of nutrition science, with Ingredion’s global scientific and regulatory affairs group.

Learn more about Ingredion.

Earlier this month, we talked ice cream trends — in today’s episode, we’re actually moving backward on the backyard barbecue timeline and discussing cheeseburger trends with Mike Bierbach, marketing director, Meals Cheese Business for Sargento.

To kick off the summer grilling season, the Plymouth, Wisconsin-based cheese processor decided to survey Americans about their cheeseburger preferences across five different regions of the country. Some of the results might not be too shocking (hey, most people want cheese on their burgers!), but others shed an interesting light on what consumers are looking for in their burger-grilling adventures.

View Sargento's "America The Burgerful" infographic.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Ingredion and is the first in a three-part series. Episodes 2 and 3 will air on Aug. 28 and Sept. 11, 2024, on this channel.

Ready-to-mix protein products are sought after by consumers to meet their needs for a wide range of lifestyles, but those consumers seek added benefits beyond the protein packed into those products.

Catherine Lochner, senior insights analyst for Ingredion, and Janae Kuc-Langford, Marketing Manager for U.S. and Canada Beverage and Nutrition Categories for Ingredion, discuss what consumers are looking for in their healthy eating pursuits nowadays. They also dig in to how RTM protein processors can address those demands through their product offerings in the marketplace.

Learn more about Ingredion.

Summer is winding down, and even though ice cream is associated with summer, that doesn’t mean the frozen treat is overlooked any other time of the year. According to data from 84.51°, however, it seems that retail sales for ice cream products this year have been a bit sluggish.

Bridget Allerton is a director of insights consulting for the retail data science, insights and media company, and she joins the podcast this time to share some “cool” trends and insights impacting ice cream in the retail marketplace.

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.