Ingrained Insights Podcast

PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, recently unveiled its 2023 State of the Industry US Packaging Machinery Report. Egan reveals some of the key highlights from the info-packed resource, focusing on what the findings might indicate for the future of packaging and equipment investment for snack makers, bakery producers, and others in the CPG food field.

Ready-to-eat popcorn is a popular snack category, with plenty of players on the field. Asheville, NC-based Poppy Handcrafted Popcorn offers a range of unique, premium flavors that make it stand out, in pouches that stand up. Frank discusses the brand’s history, growth, and innovation.

Rich Products is betting big on the future of its cake and cupcake business. Spratt connected with Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery to discuss the recent $27 million investment in its Middleton, TN facility, and its history of growth and innovation.

Consumers in the U.S. generally want to eat better, but they struggle to find foods (including snacks and baked items) that meet their healthy eating goals. During this podcast, Dr. Corwin talks about how producers can strive to provide healthier foods, while still delivering on good taste.

It’s not enough for a snack to be better for you to capture consumer interest, and keep them coming back. It has to taste good, too. If it combines being healthy and being tasty with being good for the environment, that’s a nice bonus. Anish Sheth talks about Redbud’s hat-trick snack Cheddies Crackers, its attention to quality, and its plans for the future.

When choosing bakery and snack purchases, consumers are interested in eating healthier, but they don’t want to give up indulgence—especially when it comes to chocolate. Cristian Chu Salgado recently connected with Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery to talk about what shoppers are looking for, trends in chocolate, and how producers can harness the power of chocolate to deliver tasty BFY options.

What will 2024 hold for the bakery industry? In this latest podcast, Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery checks in with two experts from Rich Products—Seb Margaglio, customer shopping marketing manager, and Bill Heiler, senior customer shopping marketing manager—to talk trends. The experts share their thoughts on what might show up on bakery shelves in terms of flavors, colors, ingredients, and more.

Predicting the future can be difficult and risky, but having an idea of what consumers are looking for can be incredibly helpful for snack and bakery pros planning for future success. Daludado, senior food technologist with T. Hasegawa, sat down with Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery Chief Editor Jenni Spinner to talk dessert and confection trends, and what the coming year might hold for producers.

Creating snack chips out of chicken breast might seem like a wild idea, but it’s one that’s caught on with consumers, who now can purchase the products at Target and other high-profile stores. Wright, founder of Wilde, talks about the company’s early days, notable growth trajectory, and what’s ahead for the brand.

Lots of U.S. households have a bottle of soy sauce in their pantry, which they typically employ to season homemade or take-out Asian dishes. However, as Chef Andrew Hunter shares with Chief Editor Jenni Spinner, soy sauce is a much more versatile substance than most consumers realize. The culinary expert explains how soy sauce can be used in a broad range of snack and bakery products, and the difference between chemically produced soy and the company’s painstaking traditional brewing process.